It was a scuba diving adventure gone wrong.
“It’s kind of the big news around town,” said Brian Sloan, who spends his summer at a Waterton cabin. “Everybody’s talking about it.”
Upper Waterton Lake, normally a popular swimming hole, was deserted Monday after a man was found unconscious in the waters Saturday.
What began as a group excursion quickly ended in tragedy. A group of about 10 divers from Calgary began scuba diving off te shore at just after two o’clock. Minutes later, they suddenly found a member of their group 25 feet underwater and unresponsive.
Get daily National news
“One of the other divers in the same group found the male unconscious at the bottom of the lake and brought him to the surface as quickly as possible,” said Waterton RCMP Cst. Grant Bulford.
The group brought the 56 year-old male to shore. RCMP say one of the divers began CPR while waiting for emergency services to arrive.
Bulford said multiple attempts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful. He was transported to Cardston hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Park officials say while this incident is unusual, scuba diving in the area is a common activity.
“There are actually several companies that do instruction here and organized dives,” said Locke Marshall with Parks Canada. “Collectively they probably bring about 200-250 divers here each year. But then there are several others that come just on their own.”
Waterton Park RCMP and Calgary Medical Examiner’s Office continue to investigate the cause of death. Waterton locals say they suspect the scuba diving area will stay empty as a result of the incident.
“I don’t think as many people will come scuba dicing in the next few weeks here,” said Sloan.
RCMP say they expect autopsy results from the Calgary Medical Examiner’s Office later this week.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.