Rebecca Gannon death: Boyfriend reveals CHILLING details after woman, 29, drowns while scuba diving
SARANDA, ALBANIA: A chilling new detail has been revealed by boyfriend of Rebecca Gannon, 29, who tragically drowned while scuba diving off the coast of Albania on Monday, September 19. Robert Kerans, who accompanied Gannon on the adventure, has blamed the dive instructor Gerta Brozi for "not paying much attention". He claimed there was a problem with his girlfriend's regulator but Gerta convinced her that the "problem had been solved."
The couple was on a holiday when both the certified Padi open water divers decided to go scuba diving. "There must have been about 12 of us altogether- three instructors, one of whom was Gerta Brozi," Robert told Mail Online. "We went into the water but I don't know if the problem was fixed. We had gone quite deep, I couldn't see Rebecca when I was in the water as the visibility wasn't very good." Robert said he was in the water for 25 minutes and when he surfaced back he saw a police boat and realized something bad had happened. Following the incident, police arrested the owner of Spiranca Diving Centre, Samir Kushova and are waiting for the autopsy report.
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Robert, who is originally from Norway, lived in Staffordshire with Rebecca also known as Beccie and were together for four years. They are believed to have met while traveling and working together in New Zealand. Other diving witnesses said Instructor Samir Kushova dived into the water to rescue Rebecca along with other members of the group and they frantically tried to save her with CPR. Samir Kushova, 45, was then arrested on suspicion of violating work health and safety rules and employing non-qualified diver and co-owner Gerta Brozi.
Gerta, who was on the boat told Mail Online, "We really don't know what happened and are waiting for the police to finish the investigation. The British woman who died was here with her boyfriend and both had PADI open water certificates so they were both fully qualified to dive with us."
"She had been in the water for ten minutes and then she got into difficulty, there had been an issue with a regulator before but it was changed and was working fine. The next thing we knew Saimir had spotted she was in trouble and dived in to try and rescue her. Saimir did all he could he brought her to the surface and then he did CPR on her as the boat went back to the shore where the paramedics were waiting. It was a very traumatic experience and the boyfriend was very upset by it, as was everyone else on the boat. We just don't know what happened. The wreck they were diving to isn't particularly deep, only seven to eight meters, so it is not a very difficult dive. We are waiting for the results of the autopsy and Saimir is with the police," Gerta recalled.
Rebecca's tearful sibling Sam after hearing the news said, "It was devasting and we was heartbroken." Sam was in the kitchen with her mother Gillian and said, "The authorities are giving us all the support. It is devastating." The party was diving onto the wreck of an Italian cargo ship sunk during World War Two, the Probitas which is inside the Bay of Saranda. The Spiranca Diving Centre's website reads, "Our dive center is staffed and equipped to handle up to 20 divers per day. We have the latest dive equipment and compressors (air only). We also have our own boats enabling us to access the best offshore dive sites."
"Dedicating our services to smaller groups enables us to focus more attention on our client's specific needs and requirements, committing more time to each guest and guaranteeing a higher quality of service from our experienced and friendly team." The website reads of scuba diving instructor Samir Kushova, "With an outstanding experience of 20 years as a Diver (CMAS/PADI) certified, Saimir will be more than happy to be your instructor and make your diving amazing!" An FCDO spokesperson said, "We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Albania and are in contact with the local authorities." An investigation is ongoing as they await an autopsy report.