LEICESTER, UK (21 Feb 2008) — The family of a diver found dead at the bottom of a quarry will never know what happened to him, an inquest was told. Emanuel Ajimati, known as Manny, was beginning a day's diving with three others at a disused quarry in Swithland Wood, north of Leicester, when he died on May 13 last year. The 46-year-old father of two was the first into the water and had dived down to adjust a line on an emergency breathing tank that was tied 12ft beneath a buoy on the surface. The other three assumed he had begun diving alone, but half an hour after he was last seen, his torch was spotted at the bottom of the quarry. Fellow diver Kevin Wright went to investigate and found Mr Ajimati motionless at the bottom, tangled in tree roots and branches with his mouthpiece out. He and the others got him to the surface and tried to resuscitate him. Ambulance crews arrived and tried for an hour to revive him before he was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination found no conclusive cause of death. The inquest, held at Loughborough Coroner's Court yesterday, was attended by Mr Ajimati's widow, Sheila, and their teenage sons, Robert and Matthew. The inquest heard from investigating officer Detective Constable Stuart Frobisher. He said: "Mr Wright said Manny was the first in the water and spent 25 to 30 minutes in before the others entered the water. "Manny went down to alter the short line with the emergency tank and didn't resurface. "Mr Wright remembers being annoyed that Manny had gone. When he entered the water he found the tank was still tied at the wrong height. "He went further down and found Manny motionless and his mouthpiece was not in his mouth and he appeared to be asleep." The divers untangled Mr Ajimati free of the tree branches and inflated his suit to take him to the surface. | | Mr Ajimati, from Rugby, had been a qualified diver since 1999 and built his own diving equipment. Det Con Frobisher said Health and Safety Executive experts found the equipment had "a number of issues with the quality of engineering", but concluded that it worked. The post-mortem report said there was no evidence to prove Mr Ajimati had been killed by drowning, sudden decompression as he resurfaced, blood poisoning by too much carbon dioxide or natural disease. The examiner was also unable to say whether Mr Ajimati had been struggling to free himself because his diving suit had protected him from bruising. North Leicestershire coroner Trevor Kirkman recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said: "Unfortunately, the pathological evidence is that the cause of death is unascertained. "It's possible Mr Ajimati became entangled in the tree and attempted to release himself and that his mouthpiece became unlodged and he died, but we don't know." He said he was satisfied that the death was an accident. SOURCE - Leicester MercurySCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
