TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese diver died from suspected hyperoxia during a dive in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea on Friday.
The 57-year-old, surnamed Hsu (徐), was assisting an international group of volunteers recovering the remains of victims who died in the undersea Chousei Coal Mine disaster in 1942. Reports said Hsu began suffering convulsions shortly after the dive began Friday, Japan Today reported.
The Chousei Coal Mine salvage project was launched in 2024 to retrieve the remains of 183 victims lost in the 1942 accident, including 136 Koreans. The seventh series of undersea surveys began Tuesday, marking the 84th anniversary of the accident.
Friday’s dive began at 11:32 a.m., and divers surfaced 45 minutes later with Hsu, who was convulsing. After attempts at CPR, he was rushed to a hospital but never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 2 p.m., per UDN.
Reports said Hsu inhaled an excessive concentration of oxygen, causing him to spasm and lose his breathing apparatus. Yoshitaka Isaji, one of the leaders of the salvage project, said the accident was not caused by the terrain in the undersea mine but was related to equipment and could happen to divers anywhere.
Isaji asked the public not to blame the civic groups involved, other divers or the Japanese government for Hsu’s death, per UDN. Organizers have canceled further salvage dives planned for February.
On Saturday, a memorial service was held to honor the victims of the 1942 disaster and was attended by community members, relatives of the victims, and Japanese and South Korean government officials.
