KOLOA – A man visiting from Washington died in an apparent scuba diving incident in waters off Koloa Landing on Monday morning, County of Kaua‘i officials announced.
The incident marks the second apparent drowning of a visitor to the island in less than 24 hours.
“We are saddened once again to report the death of another visitor,” said Kaua‘i Police Investigative Services Bureau acting Captain Kennison Nagahisa in a statement.
The man was identified by the Kaua‘i Police Department as 58-year-old Rex Shayne Queen, who was visiting from Seattle.
The county did not share many details about the circumstances surrounding the fatal incident, except that Queen became unresponsive while scuba diving in the ocean at Koloa Landing, a popular scuba diving site on the island.
First responders located Queen in the water at around 9 a.m. and brought him to shore, a county report stated. County officials did not say how long he had been unresponsive before being found.
The report noted that Kaua‘i Fire Department firefighters administered CPR to Queen before an American Medical Response (AMR) paramedics team arrived on-scene to take over operations.
AMR transported Queen to Wilcox Medical Center in Lihue, the county’s largest hospital, located about 25 minutes from Koloa Landing. A medical doctor at Wilcox then pronounced that Queen was dead.
The county reported there had been no signs of foul play at the time of the incident, and that an autopsy is pending to determine the exact cause of death.
Queen’s death comes less than a day after Ronald Nicasio, a 57-year-old visitor from Nevada, died in an apparent swimming incident in waters off Hanalei Bay on Sunday, Nov. 5.
In that incident, bystanders had pulled Nicasio from the water, but emergency personnel were also not able to revive him. He was pronounced dead by a doctor at Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital in Kapa‘a.
An autopsy is also pending in that case.
The Kaua‘i Police Department is asking visitors and residents to visit beaches with lifeguards and to be cautious in the water.
“We remind the public to be aware of your surroundings and your abilities in the water,” said Nagahisa in a statement.
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Emma Grunwald, reporter, can be reached 808-652-0638 or egrunwald@thegardenisland.com.
Hmmmmm. Where was the boat captain??? Who is watching these vulnerable scuba diving tourists???