Hope 'runs out' for missing diver

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/tyne/7407627.stm

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Rescue teams say they have given up any real hope of finding alive a diver missing off the Northumberland coast.

Four lifeboats and a helicopter began searching for the 53-year-old man when he went missing during a leisure dive off Seahouses at 1130 BST on Sunday.

He was among a party from Nottinghamshire exploring the Somali wreck, a popular site for scuba divers.

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said the force's marine unit would continue the search later.

Divers separated

Owners of the dive boat, Sovereign 3, called the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to report the man missing.

He had been with a dive buddy and began to surface because he thought he was running out of air. When his buddy went to the surface to raise the alarm the two were separated.

Humber Coastguard requested the launch of Craster RNLI Lifeboat, Seahouses RNLI All Weather and Inshore Lifeboats, Boulmer Independent Lifeboat and Rescue 131 Helicopter from RAF Boulmer.

Other dive boats in the area also joined the search, which was scaled down during the afternoon.

Ian Clayton, Seahouses RNLI lifeboat operations manager, said: "This was a truly harrowing incident for all involved. Such incidents are mercifully rare on this coast.

"Our thoughts are with the friends and relatives of the diver at this tragic time. Our crews all worked well together, and everything humanly possible was done to try and locate the missing man, sadly without success."