The diver, reported to be in his 40s, was diving in a group of 10 from a chartered vessel when the incident, said to have involved a rapid ascent, occurred during a mid-afternoon dive on Monday.
He was retrieved aboard the dive boat, which put out a distress call. The Portland Bill Coastguard helicopter airlifted the casualty to hospital, where he died. Two other dive boats helped to recover the rest of the diving group.
A spokesman for Dorset Police said: 'The man, who was from the Watford area, was with a group of friends who were all very experienced divers. They were off the Grove, Portland, on a drift dive.'
Later reports are that the dive-boat, believed to be the Tango, was carrying six divers from the Watford area and four from South Wales at the time.
The police are investigating the death but have said they are not treating it as suspicious.
Dorset emergency services attended two other dive-related incidents on the same day. One diver was airlifted to Poole Hospital for recompression treatment after undergoing a rapid ascent off St Alban's Head, near Swanage.
Another diver was airlifted to Dorset County Hospital after falling at Lulworth Cove's slipway, reportedly after suffering a fit. It was not clear whether the incident occurred before or after his dive. |
