Diver suffers burn injuries at 90m depth on 'Lusitania' dive

A DIVER has suffered burn injuries following an incident off the Old Head of Kinsale on Thursday.

The man was diving near the wreck of the Lusitania when a heat pad he was wearing ruptured. It is believed the diver suffered chemical-related burns to 30 per cent of his body.

Divers sometimes use heat pads to alleviate the cold during dives of significant depth by setting off a chemical reaction in the pads using sodium acetate, water, and metal.

According to a Valentia Coast Guard spokesman, the man had been diving for 20 minutes at the time and was at “an extreme depth” of about 90m (295ft) when the incident occurred.

The man, who was with a number of other divers, managed to make his way to the dive boat following a controlled ascent.

The Coast Guard received a call at 2.20pm, and a Waterford-based helicopter airlifted the man, who is Irish, to Cork airport. He was then taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where he arrived at 3.45pm.

A spokesman for the hospital described his condition as “stable and comfortable” and said he was not suffering from decompression sickness.

It has been confirmed the man was diving under licence issued by the Department of the Environment.

The Lusitania, which lies some 12 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, was torpedoed by a German submarine on May 7th, 1915, with the loss of more than 1,100 lives.