Florida Keys

German man dies after scuba diving in the Florida Keys, deputies say. What we know

A 59-year-old German man died in a Florida Keys hospital after losing consciousness while scuba diving Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
A 59-year-old German man died in a Florida Keys hospital after losing consciousness while scuba diving Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. Getty Images

A German man died in the hospital after losing consciousness while scuba diving in the Florida Keys, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Vitaliy Demchuk, 59, was diving the Christ of the Abyss site off Key Largo when the incident happened Sunday morning, said sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

Crew with the Amoray Dive Resort immediately began CPR, and paramedics took him to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, where Linhardt added he was pronounced dead at 11:10 a.m.

Autopsy results are pending to determine cause of death, but the sheriff’s office does not suspect foul play, Linhardt said.

David Goodhue
Miami Herald
David Goodhue covers the Florida Keys and South Florida for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald. Before joining the Herald, he covered Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware. 
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