HARTLEPOOL, UK — A man died yesterday while scuba diving near Hartlepool. Authorities told CDNN that former BSAC club chairman, Malcolm "Colin" Bell, 52, of Scarborough, died while scuba diving with two friends off a dive boat located about 11 nautical miles northeast of Hartlepool. Witnesses told investigators that Bell was found floating unconscious at the surface. At about 3:05 pm, the dive boat crew called for help and the Coastguard scrambled a helicopter from RAF Boulmer and lifeboats from Hartlepool Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Meanwhile a local angling boat nearby responded to the mayday call, took Bell onboard and started CPR. When the lifeboat reached the scuba diving accident victim, an RNLI doctor onboard pronounced Bell dead as the vessel returned to Hartlepool Lifeboat Station. The latest diver death was the third fatality in the UK in less than a week. On August 5, CDNN reported that two divers died from decompression sickness after ascending too rapidly off the coast of Filey. Inspector Lee Rukin of Hartlepool Police said the fatal scuba diving accident is under investigation and it is not yet clear how Bell died. | 
