An Indian tourist died in the hospital after he was rescued from the ocean in the Florida Keys reef earlier this month. 45-year-old Abhinav Lamba was swimming on Molasses Reef around 11 am on March 18 when he appeared to be in distress and went subsurface, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.
The crew of a commercial dive boat spotted him and located him in approximately 25 feet of water. They brought him to a commercial dive vessel and began CPR and then took him to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, where he was pronounced dead.
Autopsy reports were pending when the incident was reported locally. Detectives did not suspect any foul play.
Molasses Reef is located within a federal marine sanctuary off Key Largo. Because it is a protected area, fishing is not permitted, and it is teeming with sea life, making it a popular site for scuba diving and snorkeling, the Miami Herald reported.
Another report said that this was the second diving-related death in a week. A 71-year-old Missouri man died on March 13 after a dive on the shipwreck Eagle off the coast of Islamorada. Lonnie Lee Higgins, the man, was found on the ocean floor at a depth of approximately 110 feet by divers.
No details of Abhinav Lamba were provided by the sheriff's office about whethet he was alone or he had family members along with him at the spot.
