A British tourist died on a scuba trip after the instructor ‘forgot’ about her as he pointed out sharks and rays to other divers, an inquest heard.

Nobody had noticed the 40-year-old was missing until they returned to the boat and saw her body floating on the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

She had vomited 22m (72ft) under the water and had nobody to help her bec­ause her dive buddy had surfaced early, the hearing was told,

Fellow divers told the inquest divemaster Fabrizio Cardo was ‘more interested’ in pointing out tropical fish than taking care of their welfare.

‘The problem is the divers see the hammerhead sharks and the giants rays and their eyes are like saucers,’ expert witness Robert Cole told the inquest in Maidstone, Kent.

‘The divemaster has seen all this bef­ore, he should take a step back and concentrate on the safety of his guests – there is no excuse for not doing so. I’m amazed this guy didn’t know what Donna was doing,’ he added.

‘There was not much discipline going on – Donna was fighting for her life and there was no one there to help her.’

He also said he was ‘puzzled’ why Ecuadorian Mr Cardo allowed Miss Newton to dive as her illness would have left her dehydrated.

Tributes to the project manager from Street in Somerset poured in after her death in October. She was a ‘mate in a million’, said friend Jayne Delbridge, while her employer, defence company Thales, des­cribed her as ‘wonderful’ worker. Coroner Roger Sykes is to record a verdict this week.

Source: http://www.metro.co.uk