Two divers dead after getting into difficulty in English Channel

Two men have died after getting into difficulty while diving off the coast of Eastbourne.

The divers, in their 40s, were on an expedition in the English Channel on Saturday afternoon and were part of a group.

According to the Daily Mail, a mayday call was made from the dive boat and a rescue operation was launched at around 1pm.

The men were airlifted from the water by helicopter and were taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital where they were pronounced dead.

DCI Mark Ling told ITV News: "Tragically two divers have died after getting into difficulty while diving in the Channel. We are informing their families and will be conducting an investigation into the circumstances."

In 2012, a British man was one of four who died in a scuba diving accident near the tourist port of Palinuro in Italy.

Douglas Rizzo, 40, who was born in London but had been living in Rome, was leading a party of tourists in a scuba diving trip in a submerged cave called "Blood Grotto, popular because of its red walls caused by a bacterial growth.

But the group lost their bearings and panicked after kicking up mud from the floor with their flippers.

Massimo Ruggiero, the coastguard commander in Palinuro, said the group became confused when trying to exit the cave and instead entered a tunnel with a dead end.

He said: "The entrance to the cave is through a tunnel at a depth of 13 to 14 metres. The group should then have swum up to a higher tunnel and made their exit from the cave through that.

"Beneath this channel there is another tunnel that leads to a dead end in a chamber with a sandy floor. All the victims were found there."

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