A 60-year-old scuba diver has been seriously injured after a tank exploded on board a RIB off the Italian island of Procida.
The incident occurred off the popular dive site at Punta Pizzaco on Sunday, 6 September, while the boat was at sea in waters surrounding the island, approximately 20km west of Naples.
According to an initial account reported by Italian news agency ANSA, the cylinder failed with a ‘loud bang’, the force of the blast throwing the diver overboard.
The man, reportedly from Naples, was recovered from the water and transported on the same boat to Marina Grande, Procida’s main port, where emergency medical personnel were waiting.
The diver is said to have remained conscious following the incident but had sustained injuries to his face and severe abdominal trauma.
He was initially taken to Gaetanina Scotto di Perrotolo hospital on Procida for examinations before doctors ordered him to be flown to a hospital in Naples for treatment.
Local media report he was airlifted under a ‘code-red’ emergency, although reports also said that his injuries, while severe, were not considered to be life-threatening.
The Italian Guardia Costiera is investigating the incident and will examine any equipment involved, however, beyond the sudden structural failure of the tank, the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.
It is not yet known if the tank contained anything other than standard air for scuba diving, or what the diver was doing when it failed. No further information about the diver’s condition has been released.
The sudden failure of a scuba tank, while rare, can lead to catastrophic, sometimes fatal injuries. In March last year, a 27-year-old man was killed by a cylinder which burst while he was filling it at a dive centre in Pointe-aux-Piments, Mauritius.
A few months later, a 14-year-old boy had to have his hand amputated after a scuba tank exploded at Ploče Beach in Budva, Montenegro. The boy was some 50m distant from the tank when it exploded.
Related articles
- Teenager ‘seriously injured’ by scuba tank explosion in Montenegro
- Diver killed in scuba tank explosion
- Divers identify Roman shipwreck with hundreds of amphorae off Sicily
- Italian President honours three Finnish divers for Maldives cave recovery
