Scuba girl drowns after dive crew 'forgets' her
A SCUBA diver was left at sea to die when the instructor on her Galapagos Islands yacht forgot about her, a coroner was told.
None of her fellow divers realised British tourist Donna Newton was missing until they saw her body floating in the water.
They told in statements how the Ecuadorian divemaster Fabrizio Cardo appeared to be more interested in pointing out hammerhead sharks and rays to the group than in checking that divers had returned to the boat.
Miss Newton, 40, an experienced diver from Street, Somerset, died after her dive buddy surfaced early, leaving her alone 22 metres beneath the surface.
The inquest in Maidstone heard that the Kent-born project manager had been suffering from food poisoning, meaning she would have been dehydrated when she went on the dive from the yacht Sky Dancer in the Pacific Ocean last October 6.
Expert witness Robert Cole said she had been seen following a large group of turtles and had died after being sick under water.
He said it was the divemaster’s responsibility to ensure all the divers were safe and that he should have spotted the warning signs.
“I’m puzzled that the divemaster allowed her to dive,” he said.
“Being sick makes you dehydrated which can cause problems, it is not a wise thing to do.”
Mr Cole added: “The problem is that the divers see the hammerhead sharks and the giant rays and their eyes are like saucers.
“The divemaster has seen all this before. He should take a step back and concentrate on the safety of his guests. There is no excuse for not doing so.” Tributes to Miss Newton have flooded in from friends and colleagues who described her as a “mate in a million”.
Her employers, defence electronic firm Thales, said in a statement: “Donna was a wonderful person to work with and always brought a great deal of enthusiasm and energy to her work as well as the numerous good causes that she was associated with outside of work.”
Coroner Roger Sykes will re turn a written verdict this week.