A Chinese tourist died on Sunday when he went scuba diving on the coast at Gqeberha and returned to the surface unconscious.
The 50-year-old man went out to sea on a rental boat that is used for diving trips to go scuba diving and then presumably lost consciousness in the water.
The crew of the boat helped the man into the boat and hastily administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) was notified on Sunday around 10:45 that cardiopulmonary resuscitation was being performed on a man on a charter boat on the way to the port.
At that stage the vessel was still in the vicinity of the farthest bell buoy.
Justin Erasmus, station commander of the Gqeberha NSRI office, says their rescue vehicle called Rescue 6 Alpha was fortunately able to be deployed immediately as the rescue vehicle was already in the water at the NSRI’s rescue station.
The popular Iron Man competition was presented this weekend in Gqeberha and the rescue equipment was on standby in the event of an emergency during the competition.
The NSRI joined the boat about half a nautical mile from the entrance to the harbor. The charter boat’s crew was still performing first aid on the tourist at that stage.
The man was hoisted onto the NSRI’s rescue vehicle and rushed to the Gqeberha NSRI office where paramedics took over cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The man was finally pronounced dead.
