A diver has been airlifted to hospital after being reported ‘overdue’ off the Kerry coast this afternoon.
It’s understood that three persons went diving but only two returned to their dive
boat. When they missed their companion they raised the alarm at around 12.30pm.
Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centre on Valentia Island in Kerry mounted a search operation.
Two RNLI lifeboats launched from Fenit while the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter was also tasked.
Coast Guard watch officers also issued a Pan-pan radio message requesting any vessels in the area to keep a lookout for the missing diver and to assist if they were in a position to do so. At least one local vessel responded to the radio call and made its way to the diver’s last known location.
The air and sea search was concentrated around a cluster of islands west of Fenit.
At around 2.00pm, the crew of Rescue 115 located the diverted at Inishtooskert Island. The casualty was winched on board the helicopter and airlifted to University Hospital Tralee.