All

More sad news from the UK.  Reports are that two divers are missing in
separate incidents, see below my signature line for the BBC report.  I know
nothing more about these incidents although I regularly dive on the SCUBA
Doo.

August looks grim:

17 Aug 98:	John Watts, 50, from Desford, Leicester
				Robert Hadfield, 20, from Lichfield,
Staffordshire.
				Diving the Moldavia.

23 Aug 98	Robert Wolov.	Diving the Breda.

26 (?) Aug 98:	2 separate incidents, 2 divers missing.

David Shimell
Project Manager, Sequent Computer Systems Ltd., Weybridge, Surrey, UK.
Email: shimell@se*.co* <mailto:shimell@se*.co*> 

From, "http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_159000/159006.stm
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_159000/159006.stm> ", 
Thursday, August 27, 1998 Published at 06:43 GMT 07:43 UK:

Two divers are believed to have died in the latest in a
 series of diving accidents off the British coast this
 summer. 

 One diver went missing while trying to free an anchor in
 the Solent and another diver failed to surface after
 exploring a wreck off the Dorset coast.

 Both searches were called off on Wednesday evening. 

 A middle-aged man from Gosport failed to surface after
 going down 31 metres to try to free an anchor caught in
 the Solent. 

 The diving vessel "Scuba Doo" reported him missing
 when he failed to return to the after going into the sea at
 4.45pm, near the Isle of Wight. 

 The search involving a coastguard helicopter and several
 lifeboats began at about 5pm and was called off once
 night fell. 

 Search resumed 

 The search for the other missing diver resumed on
 Thursday morning. 

 He went missing after exploring the sunken ship Kyarra,
 about a mile south of Durlston Head, near Anvil Point in
 Dorset. 

 Colleagues on board a dive boat raised the alarm shortly
 after 8pm on Tuesday when they realised the diver was
 overdue by five minutes, the Coastguard said. 

 A Coastguard helicopter from Portland joined the
 Swanage and Poole lifeboats in a search of the area. 

 A second helicopter from Solent, a Dorset police launch
 and a third lifeboat along with other dive boats also
 joined the search. 


Four Navy divers from Horsea
Island and divers from the
warship HMS Endurance
searched near the wreck,
which was sunk by a
German torpedo in 1918. 

But they found no trace of
the missing diver and the
search was called off. 

The missing diver, who has
not been named, is
understood to be
 experienced, having completed more than 40 dives this
 year. 

 "It is understood he had begun to dive at the beginning of
 the season, diving almost every day," said Jim
 McWilliams, District Controller at Portland Coastguard. 

 Rescue 

 Coastguards in the area have rescued a second diver in
 a separate incident. 

 The female diver is believed to have got the "bends", as
 she was diving with a friend off a dive charter boat a mile
 west of Portland. 

 The Coastguard rescue helicopter, located at Portland,
 was immediately sent to the scene. 

 The diver is being treated for decompression sickness in
 the Hyperbaric Unit at Poole. 

 Safety first 

 These latest accidents are the most recent in a series to
 hit divers off the coast of Britain in recent weeks. 

 Divers were given a "safety first" warning by coastguards
 following a spate of accidents earlier in August. 

 One diver was killed, two were seriously injured, seven
 people were treated for the "bends", and 12 were involved
 in more minor incidents over the course of a few days. 

 The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is preparing a new
 brochure which it hopes will guide divers towards better
 and safer practice. 

 Maritime and Coastguard Agency Chief Executive
 Maurice Storey said: "Diving is an exhilarating sport, but
 one with a high number of risks." 

--
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