Man dies after diving incident near Oban

A diver died after getting into difficulties in the Sound of Kerrera during Storm Ciara on Sunday, writes Fiona Scott.

UK Coastguard were alerted first and immediately requested the launch of Oban lifeboat following reports of a group of divers in difficulty to the south of the town.

The volunteer crew of Oban’s RNLI Lifeboat Mora Edith MacDonald faced gale force conditions during the call out at around 10.15am. Despite challenging conditions, the lifeboat reached the scene quickly but found the divers had already been recovered from the water and were being treated by paramedics from the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Helicopter

The coastguard helicopter and Oban Coastguard rescue team were also at the scene.

It was later announced

a 50-year-old man had died during the incident. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘Police are investigating the sudden death of a 50-year-old man in south Oban around 10.40am on Sunday February 9.

‘The death is currently being treated as unexplained but there does not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.

‘A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.’

Shortly afterwards, further reports reached the coastguard of another diver drifting to the north.

The lifeboat immediately proceeded to the scene and discovered the object was actually the dive gear of one of the divers.

Dinghy

As the crew were drying off in the station after the incident, one of them noticed a dingy drifting across Oban Bay.

Having noticed the oars were in place on the dinghy, there was concern someone

may have fallen from it, so the crew relaunched into the storm to ensure no life was at risk.

Search

Several boats were on moorings in the bay and a systematic search began. Oban Coastguard team, which had also just returned from the previous incident, located the dinghy and identified a name on it.

The owner was located safe and well and unaware his dinghy had gone adrift.