Cave diver dead after failing to surface

Jane Holroyd -

A 40-year-old Melbourne man has died while cave diving near Mt Gambier.

South Australian police said the man, from Doncaster, died while exploring Tank Cave yesterday afternoon.

Police were called to the site near Tantanoola at 3.45pm by a diver who said the man had failed to surface.

He had only got 50 metres into the cave when tragedy struck.

South Australian Police Superintendent Trevor Twilley told ABC Radio police were investigating the cause of the man's death. He has been identified but his name has not yet been released.

"[The man] was only 50 metres into the cave and the circusmtances surrounding this death are still unclear at this stage," he said.

Supterintendent Twilley said he had spoken with Cave Divers Association of Australia's national director John Vanderleest this morning, adding that the association's Tank Cave safety regulations appeared "to be suffiecient" in restricting access based on divers' experience.

"Tank Cave is one of the more complex cave systems in the southern hemisphere," Superintendent Twilley said.

The cave is located on land purchased by the Cave Divers Association of Australia earlier this year. The association bought five acres of land surrounding the cave's entrance, and there is access to the land from the Princess Highway.

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