Saudi free diving champ drowns
Bakheet’s body was found off Jeddah more than a day after he went missing
Jeddah: Rescue teams found the body of Saudi free diving champion Bassam Bakheet more than a day after he had gone missing during training, Saudi media reported on Saturday.
Bekheet was reported missing on Thursday when he went to the sea, training for a diving completion off the beach of Abhar in the Saudi western city of Jeddah, the Makkah region authorities said.
Search for him was suspended late Thursday and resumed on Friday when his body was found. The border guards and volunteer searchers took part in the search operation.
The body was found and recovered at the depth of nearly 80 metres in the area, spokesman for the Makkah border guards Faris Al Maliki said.
Bakheet’s body was buried early Saturday after a funeral prayer was performed for him in Jeddah.
An investigation will be opened into the incident to determine the cause of his death, according to the Saudi newspaper Okaz.
Bakheet set Saudi and Gulf records in free diving.