An Austrian diver was killed off of Bali’s Nusa Lembongan island after she was hit by a boat on Monday afternoon.
Klungkung Police spokesman Nyoman Sarjana confirmed the incident on Tuesday, telling local reporters that it happened near Jungutbatu Village at the mangrove forest, around 1:45pm.
Nusa Lembongan is a small island off of Bali’s east coast, popular with divers and snorkelers.
The victim, identified by Tribun Bali as 35-year-old Kerstin Korinek had been on a dive with the boat Serendipity, including the boat’s captain, I Made Sunada, a boat crew, I Gede Atmika Yasa, two other foreigners, and two guides.
Just minutes into the dive, crew saw Korinek had deployed a ‘safety sausage’, an inflatable diver’s tool used to indicate that she was coming up the surface, so the Serendipity approached to pick her up, says Sarjana.
But suddenly a boat from Lembongan Dive Adventure allegedly came from the west, directly hitting Korinek.
“Seeing that, a fellow (diver) called Zinggl shouted and crew saw the water was a reddish color, mixed with blood,” Sarjana said, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
Crew evacuated an unconscious Korinek, who had an open head wound, to the Serendipity and rushed her to mainland Bali.
“The victim was immediately sent to Surya Husadha Hospital Bali in Denpasar to get medical treatment, but at about 6:35pm, the victim was declared dead by the hospital,” Sarjana said.
Nusa Penida Police is doing an investigation into the woman’s death and a crime reconstruction.
The captain of the Lembongan Dive Adventure boat, I Kade Ricahyana has been secured by Nusa Penida Police for questioning, while police are interviewing witnesses.
The captain has not yet been charged with any crime, but police are considering whether he could be charged with violating 359 of the Criminal Code which covers negligence causing death, says Sarjana.
Water Police and the district attorney’s office are also investigating the incident.
