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FRANCE

Diver dies in one of world's deepest rock pools in French Pyrenees

A 50-year-old man died from a heart attack while diving in one of the world's deepest rock pools on the French side of the Pyrenees mountains on Saturday. Explorer and conservationist Jacques Cousteau was one of the first people to dive deep into the 190-metre deep pool at Font-Estramar in the 1950s.

The gouffre de Font Estremar
The gouffre de Font Estremar Public domain/Swisscoucou
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The man suffered a cardio-pulmonary attack at 35 metres and a companion brought him to the surface, emergency services said.

But, despite efforts to revive him, he was dead by the time rescue workers arrived.

The pool is popular with divers both for being one of the five deepest in the world and for staying at the same temperature, 18°C, all year round.

But it is also the scene of one death every two years, an emergency services source told the AFP news agency.

Divers started to explore it in 1949 and Cousteau did so in 1949, accompanied by geologist and writer Haroun Tazieff.

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