Soldier ‘ran out of oxygen on Zenobia dive’

By Charlie Charalambous

A BRITISH soldier who died on Sunday during a diving expedition on the Zenobia shipwreck off Larnaca suffocated while looking for his lost flipper, according to findings yesterday.

A post mortem carried out by state pathologist Panicos Stavrianos concluded that John Rann, 38, suffocated, after running out of oxygen during a dive with nine other colleagues.

Police believe the soldier ran out of oxygen following a desperate attempt to recover a lost flipper which had come loose during his ascent.

“The delay resulted in his air tanks running out and caused death by suffocation,” police said yesterday following the post mortem report.

The Epsikopi-based Rann, 38, of the First Battalion Light Infantry, lost consciousness during his ascent from the shipwreck at around 11am, police said.

Although his companions tried to revive him after pulling him from the water, Rann was pronounced dead on arrival at Larnaca General hospital at 11.25am.

He was described as an experienced diver who had gone diving before on the wreck of the Zenobia.

The senior NCO, with 20 years’ army service, leaves a wife and three children back in his home town of Keynsham, near Bristol. He had been stationed at Episkopi since the beginning of January.

The dive was organised by the Akrotiri Sub-Aqua Club which, although based at RAF Akrotiri, is privately funded by its military and civilian members.

“It’s a sport which carries an element of risk. This risk is minimised by having strict supervision,” said bases spokesman Rob Need yesterday.

He said it was now a matter for the accident investigation team.

Since it sank one nautical mile off the Larnaca coast 19 years ago, the Swedish vessel carrying a cargo of Volvos has become a tourist attraction for pleasure divers. Several local diving schools specialise in expeditions to the wreck.

Rann is the second person to die while diving on the Zenobia in the past five years. A Spanish diver was killed in September 1994 after getting trapped in the wreck.

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