The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Female diver’s body recovered from notorious quarry.
FIFE: Edinburgh mother is the third person to die in the quarry in three years
Calls have been made to establish a permanent diving facility at a notorious Fife quarry following a third fatality in as many years
Kelda Henderson’s body was removed from Inverkeithing’s Prestonhill Quarry yesterday after she failed to resurface from an organised dive at the site on Sunday evening.
The death of the 36-year-old motherof-one from Edinburgh has prompted renewed calls for the pond to be drained – a plan at odds with the wishes of local divers.
In recent weeks, the Prestonhill Developments consortium was formed to work up plans to establish a diving centre, in addition to new homes, at Preston Hill.
An unnamed source from the local diving community said the site was ideal for trainee divers.
He said: “For scuba divers, the quarry has all the conditions you would find in the open ocean, with the exception of depth, currents and marine life.
“It’s been a long-held belief within the diving community that a permanent facility here would go a long way towards securing the safety of the site.”
Little is known about the circumstances surrounding this latest tragedy, though emergency services were alerted by Ms Henderson’s fellow divers when she failed to return to the surface.
A search on Sunday proved fruitless, before her body was eventually recovered yesterday morning.
The drama teacher is the third person to have lost their life at the quarry since 2014.
In August 2014, 18-year-old Cameron Lancaster died after jumping off the cliffs at Preston Hill during the ice bucket challenge craze that was sweeping the internet at the time.
Just 10 months later another 18-yearold, John McKay from Kirkcaldy, drowned at the quarry.
The cause of this latest tragedy is unknown and it happened in different circumstances, during a controlled dive.
Councillor Alice McGarry said it appeared the tragedy could not have been prevented, adding: “Divers have been using the place for years. It was a dreadful tragedy and brings it all back for the people closely involved in the previous two tragedies.”
Inspector Ian Stephen of Dalgety Bay Police Station said: “Our thoughts are with Kelda’s family and friends.”