Man dies after taking ill during a dive in Cork Harbour

Polish national had been trying to fix a mooring at popular anchorage area

A diver has died in hospital after taking ill during a dive to fix a mooring at a popular yacht anchorage area in Cork Harbour this afternoon.

The Polish national, understood to be in his late 40s, was diving to fix a mooring at Drake's Pool on the Owenabue Estuary, upstream of Crosshaven.

It’s understood that the diver was down around eight metres when he took ill and a rescue diver on standby went down and helped bring him to the surface.

The man had lost consciousness and the emergency services were alerted including HSE paramedics who were quickly on the scene.

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Crosshaven RNLI assisted while the Irish Coastguard Rescue 117 helicopter from Waterford was initially tasked to assist but was stood down soon afterwards.

The man was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where he underwent emergency treatment but he failed to regain consciousness.

The man, whom it’s understood was an experienced diver, was pronounced dead at the hospital and post-mortem will take place there today.

Gardaí say they are treating the death as a tragic accident and a file will be prepared on man’s death for an inquest at the South Cork Coroner’s Court.

Barry Roche

Barry Roche

Barry Roche is Southern Correspondent of The Irish Times