An Australian female diver has died suddenly after surfacing from a dive at the Manta Point site on Nusa Penida island, off the south-east coast of Bali in Indonesia.
The woman, who has been identified as 64-year-old Pamela Philip from Victoria, was reported to have become unresponsive during the dive at around 10am on Sunday, 31 August.
She had been diving from a boat run by PADI 5* dive-centre Two Fish Divers with her husband as part of a group of 13, according to local press. Both were reported to have been experienced divers.
The couple had been staying at the Pandawa Hotel on Nusa Penida. They checked in at the dive-centre 90 minutes before the dive and had received a briefing on the boat and reportedly two equipment checks, one on the way out and a second at the site.
Manta Point is relatively shallow at around 15m, though cooler water, strong currents and poor visibility can be encountered there.
Philip was under water for only about eight minutes before surfacing and returning to the boat with a guide, according to a police representative. She had been complaining of shortness of breath as she climbed the ladder with the help of the guide, but then fell unconscious.
The crew applied CPR but Philip did not regain consciousness, and was declared dead on being taken to nearby Nusa Medika Clinic. An examination was carried out in hospital at Denpasar on the mainland but a full post mortem was set to be carried out only after her body had been sent back to Australia.
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