UPDATE: Body of missing British diver found in Murcia sea

THE body of a British diver, named as Neil Anthony Fears, has been found in the sea off Murcia near a First World War shipwreck.

The diver was found a few metres from the wreck of the British steamship SS Stanfield in the sea around Cabo de Palos, near the resort of La Manga. 

Mr Fears had gone out to the wreck with three other divers on Wednesday morning (August 5) but had lost contact with them and did not surface. His body was discovered around 4.30pm local time five hours after an air and sea rescue began to look for him.

The diver, who was well known in the area, visited Spain with his family each year. According to David Alcazar, a spokesman from a Murcia dive centre association, the four divers’ oxygen equipment required them to return to the surface of the water regularly and when Mr Fears, an experienced diver, did not appear on one such occasion, his companions alerted authorities. 

In a separate incident, police are continuing to search off the island of Formentera in the Balearics for another diver, Natalia Molchanova, considered to be one of the world’s best freedivers. The 53-year-old Russian diver is presumed dead after going missing on Sunday August 2 after failing to resurface with her three other companions.