Two missing on submerged Great Wall - China

[DandyDon]

Two Divers Missing at Underwater Section of the Great Wall

Two scuba divers have gone missing while exploring a little-known, underwater section of the Great Wall in Hebei province.

The two divers, identified as Denovo Xu and Sun Hao, failed to surface from a dive on Wednesday morning, September 6, in the Panjiakou Reservoir, about halfway between the Eastern Qing Tombs and Chengde, about a three-hour drive northeast of Beijing.

Xu and Sun were conducting exploratory dives on the Xifengkou section of the Wall, a more remote section than is usually visited by recreational divers. In an email to this author in August, Xu described the area as being "deeper, with propaganda banners etc."

A search has been underway ever since, involving search teams from Beijing and Tangshan, along with remote cameras and sonar, Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) China, with which Xu was affiliated, said in a WeChat newsletter update. Although both divers were believed to be using closed circuit rebreathers (CCR), which would provide much greater air supplies than normal scuba tanks, it is unlikely that those units could have lasted such a long time.

The underwater section of the Great Wall was created in 1977, when the Panjiakou Reservoir (潘家口水库) was created to provide nearby Tangshan with an additional water supply, flooding with it several hundred meters of the wall. Recreational divers visit the shallower section of the wall regularly, which can vary in depth from just a few meters to as much as 40 meters – the limit for sport diving. The use of CCRs is considered technical diving, and requires special equipment and training, which Xu and Sun both had.

While the Great Wall is appropriate for recreational and technical divers, both face the challenges of cold water, especially at great depths, and often limited visibility.

 

[DandyDon]

Update from 9月8日搜救通报

Google translated...

On September 8, the search and rescue team continued to search for missing divers. On the same day, there are 15 voluntary divers, blue sky rescue team of more than 60 units, Tangshan God Bless rescue team 15 people, Lauren son Na company, deep blue underwater robot company involved in the rescue activities. A total of 11 boats out of the day, sailing more than 30 times, the use of the various types of Launce sound son seven, underwater drag sonar two, underwater robot two of the suspicious waters were searched. At the same time two groups of GUE divers, respectively, the Great Wall on the 7th floor of the location and the missing divers planned dive location for up to 2.5 hours of re-search.

The situation of the incident waters is complex, the underwater visibility is low, the depth changes greatly, and there is a large number of local fishermen laying in the use or has been abandoned fishing nets, cages, resulting in underwater robots, drag the sonar occurred several times, serious impact The search work carried out. Divers Underwater search is affected by visibility, water temperature, depth and propulsion efficiency, and it is difficult to cover areas where all accidents may occur in a short period of time. As of the date of publication, search and rescue personnel still failed to lock out the specific location of missing persons, but according to the latest information obtained to determine the main direction of several search:

1, according to the former day of the sonar side of the sweep of the possible location to use the drag sonar for precise positioning, and then on demand to send divers carefully search.

2, on the missing divers dive plan in the second line of planning for the fine side of the sweep, excluding doubt.

3, trying to remove the waters within a cross between the project site and the Great Wall South Gate between the fishing nets system.

4, tomorrow, more than a senior veteran will reach the accident, strengthen the strength of the divers team. First of all, the high degree of suspected sonar scanning to investigate, do not rule out the use of DPV + CCR for underwater carpet search.

We will do our best to search and rescue, force to make progress as soon as possible. We also urge the enthusiastic people do not rush to the place of the incident. The current number of accident site personnel has been far beyond the limit, the divers resources of the staff also by the potential distribution, unable to provide more equipment and supplies divers.

 

[The Chairman]

That wall is on my bucket list.

 

[Tim1966]

Scuba Divers missing while exploring the Underwater Great Wall of China

Fears are growing for two Chinese divers who went missing while exploring part of Underwater Great Wall of China in Panjiakou Reservoir, Hebei Province on Wednesday.

Both missing divers, Denovo Xu and Hao Sun, were participating in Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) China’s Pan Jia Kou Underwater Great Wall Exploration. Xu is the first GUE certified Cave 2 scuba diver in the country, while Sun is a recreational scuba diving instructor and a certified GUE technical diver. GUE China has been updating the searching progress public through it’s social media platform on Wechat. It is indicated that Xu was part of the surface support team, because of suffering from a cold, for two days before went missing.

The divers are also affiliated with UNSCUBA Diving Club in Shanghai, who has the two only GUE instructor in the country.

A multi-institutional surface and underwater search involving underwater sonar, drones, and scuba divers is still continuing.

 

[wgw04024]

Two missing on submerged Great Wall - China

 

[Centrals]

Update from 9月8日搜救通报

Google translated...

Pretty lousy written chinese!
A slightly better translation than google:
3. Will attempt to remove the fishing traps/nets which were laid across........

 

[Centrals]

. GUE China has been updating the searching progress public through it’s social media platform on Wechat. It is indicated that Xu was part of the surface support team, because of suffering from a cold, for two days before went missing.

Why would a surface support diver who had been laid low with cold became an exploring diver?

 

[Centrals]

..............
The divers are also affiliated with UNSCUBA Diving Club in Shanghai, who has the two only GUE instructor in the country.

1. What difference does it make to the search and recovery?
2. None of these two are GUE tec instructor.

 

[Tim1966]

Updates from GUE China on Sep 8th

On Sep 8, our rescue team continues to search for missing divers. Fifteen volunteer divers, sixty divers from Blue Sky Rescue (NGO with government approval), fifteen rescue divers from God Bless Tangshan Rescue, Deep Infar Inc., Laurel Underwater Robot Inc. have participated in the rescue operation.
A total of eleven vessels have carried out thirty operations on that day, utilising seven Laurel sonars, two towed sonars, and two underwater robots to explore the potential area. Meanwhile, two groups of GUE divers have also conducted another 2.5 hour search on level seven, level eight of the great wall, as well as the planned dive site of the missing divers.

(Divers carry out underwater search)

(Underwater robot and towed sonar)

The underwater condition is described as complex, with low visibility, varied depth, and lots of abandoned fishing nets or bait traps. As a result, underwater robots and towed sonars were entangled several times, and severely affected the attempt to cover all the suspicious area. Up till now, rescue team has not yet located the missing divers, but several direction has been laid down:

1. Send out divers to conduct underwater search on locations that are reported suspicious by underwater sonars

2. Conduct search on the alternative route according to original dive plan

3. Remove part of the fishing nets between exit point and dive site

4. There will be more experienced divers arriving on Sep 9 to strengthen the ability of the diving team. Sonar scan will be conducted, and if necessary, using CCR and DPV to conduct a complete underwater search

We are trying our best to conduct the searching operation and keen to make progress. We also urge any non-related divers not to come to the dive site, as the area has already reached its maximum capacity in supporting the diving team. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Lastly, let us pray for our dive buddy and wish them a safe return.

 

[PfcAJ]

Does anyone here know the depth and temperature where they were diving?