A British tourist has died and a woman was fighting for her life today in the latest snorkelling accidents on the Great Barrier Reef.
The unnamed man, believed to be in his sixties, was on a trip to Moore Reef about 25 miles off Queensland, Australia, when he was pulled unconscious from the water yesterday.
It is thought he had a heart attack while clinging to a safety ring about 15 feet from a pontoon. CPR was performed but he could not be saved.
A rescue helicopter was sent but diverted to another incident at Green Island, where a 43-year-old woman almost drowned while snorkelling. She was being treated in Cairns Hosptial, the Cairns Post reported.
The man’s death was the sixth on the reef since October and the 11th in a year. Three of the victims were British and all but one were tourists who were snorkelling or diving. Most were elderly and had pre-existing medical conditions.
