The friend of the diver who drowned to death: "It happened in front of my face - I still can't believe it" - voila! news

Video: Orit Peled goes diving in Sharm el-Sheikh (courtesy of the family)

A friend of the diver who drowned to death on Saturday while diving in Eilat told Walla about what happened underwater. "We were with the families, we had a barbecue together. We've been together many times in Eilat, I can't believe it happened until now. I tried to help as much as I could, it happened in front of my face. Then I had to stay in the water, not an experience I recommend to anyone," he said. "He was super professional, professional level, instructor of open system technical diving."

The incident occurred while diving in a "closed system" at a depth of about 100 meters. Another diver, familiar with the case, criticized the state and the Sports Diving Authority. "He used to do these dives regularly, at the level of once a month if not twice, yesterday's dive he did dozens of times - Israel does not carry out its duties faithfully, and does not publish the investigations, they are used for internal statistics," he explained. "That's exactly why officials get money from taxes."

Diving in Eilat. Archive(Photo: Walla! NEWS, Ziv Reinstein)

The diver who drowned left behind a wife and a daughter who attends elementary school. "He was an invested, committed person. He took diving to the extreme like a few other friends who are in the field," said David Levy, another diver familiar with the case. "This includes professional training, mental readiness and limitless investment. They use the best end equipment available in the field without compromise, financial and personal investment."

Diving in a closed system is the use of a breathing system that knows how to recycle the air that divers exhale. The system enables diving at depths of tens of meters, and there are few divers certified for this in Israel.
"There have been a number of incidents in recent months, some due to poor health, some due to lack of skill. He was super skilled, but I think there was a health event there during the dive," Levy said.

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• Eilat