A 43-year-old British diver died after becoming trapped inside the Gouffre de Saint-Sauveur underwater cave system in southwestern France. He had not been publicly named at the time of the report.
The diver entered the cave system on Friday as part of a group of eight British cave divers. He descended into the caverns at about 3.30pm, and his companions alerted emergency services at about 8pm when he did not resurface, according to La Dépêche.
He is reported to have become entangled in a guide line in a narrow passage deep underwater. Specialist cave rescue teams and firefighters searched the area until around midnight, but were unable to locate him for days.
Large-scale search operation
A second large-scale operation was launched on Saturday, with additional equipment and teams arriving by helicopter. The operation included the Gendarmerie’s marine brigade from Marseille.
Rescuers hoped the diver might have reached an air pocket at a depth of 262 feet (80 metres), but he was not found there. He had set off with an eight-hour oxygen supply and a second tank, which was later found unused.
When the complex search resumed on Sunday, a body was discovered underwater at about 288 feet. Rescuers were initially unable to retrieve it because of extremely difficult conditions, public prosecutor Clara Ribeiro said.
Narrow passages and movement by rescue divers had muddied the water, making visibility poor.
The Gendarmerie has launched an investigation into the diver’s cause of death.
Source: Metro News
