Austrian fatality - Gozo island, Malta

[DandyDon]

Diver loses his life in Gozo - Newsbook

A 53-year-old man tragically lost his life while diving off ix-Xatt l-Aħmar in Għajnsielem, the police have confirmed.

The police’s assistance was sought at around 11am on Sunday, with people reporting that the diver, an Austrian national, had found himself in difficulty at the popular Gozitan diving spot.

Civil Protection Department officials, police officers and a medical team from the Gozo General Hospital went on site. Fellow divers had brought the man to shore, but the medical assistance provided on site failed to revive him.

The police are investigating the case, while duty magistrate Simone Grech has opened an inquiry.

 

[InTheDrink]

Very sad. Just back from a couple weeks diving at Gozo.

Conditions where I dived benign.

However entry to some sites were anything but benign and walking up and down sharp steps and rocks carrying a steel 12L and 3L steel pony I found difficult, particularly after my first fall resulting minor muscle injury in my left quad. It made trivial dives arduous and entering the water already feeling exhausted. The dives were the easy part.

I did one day boat diving and it was heaven not having to exert at all.

None of this may have anything to do with this incident but being used to diving from boats nearly all the time it made me realise that difficult entry shore dives have a whole other set of considerations. I’m not heavy but I’m clearly not as fit as I should be and yes Covid didn’t help that. But kitting up in hot weather and shaky entrenches and sometimes feeling rushed aren’t ideal.

I could easily see how the significant extra exertion could result in a poor outcome.

RIP to the diver.