Guardia Civil divers recovered the body of a man at a depth of over 90 metres off the coast of Mallorca the 9th of August.

Owing to the depth the Guardia Civil could not use their normal divers belonging to the Grupo Especial de Actividades Subacuáticas (Geas) based in Mallorca.

A diving companion of the victim suffered from the bends trying to reach the body which had been on the seabed several hours. The Geas firsts reconnoitred the area where the victim lay, marking the area with buoys and gauging the depth. Seeing that it was over 80 metres to the seabed the decided to call in the Unidad de Buceo Profundo (Deep-Sea Diving Unit), based in Madrid.

Whilst waiting for the divers specialised in working at depth to arrive the Geas used a ROV camera but found that visibility was almost none existent. Even with the help of a remotely operated vehicles or ROV they were unable to locate the body until the next day.

Finally, at a depth of 92 metres they located the body and using the robotic arm on the submersible to bring the body up to a level that was safer for divers to operate and from there to bring it to the surface where their boat was waiting.

The victim was taken to main port on the island where a coroner signed the death certificate and gave permission for the body to be taken for an autopsy.

(News: Mallorca, Balearic Islands)