Massachusetts

Woman Dies in Scuba Diving Incident at Nantasket Beach in Hull

The 67-year-old Dedham woman was a certified scuba diver

A 67-year-old woman died in a scuba diving incident at a beach in Hull, Massachusetts on Sunday, the Plymouth County District Attorney announced.

Emergency personnel responded to Nantasket Beach around 1:03 p.m. Sunday after receiving two 911 calls for a swimmer in distress.

The woman, who has been identified as Nancy Siegel, of Dedham, was pulled from the ocean by responding authorities.

Life-saving measures were performed at the beach before Siegel was transported to South Shore Hospital where she was pronounced dead just after 2 p.m.

Siegel, a certified scuba diver, was with a group of scuba divers on Sunday.

Paul Daley, a property manager at the Atlantic Hill Condominiums, says this is the time of year when divers take advantage of everything the ocean has to offer, but in his 20 years living nearby, he says nothing like this has ever happened on Nantasket Beach.

A medical examiner will determine Siegel's exact cause of death. It's not immediately clear why she became distressed, and the circumstances around her death remain unclear.

The Massachusetts State Police dive team has spent hours Sunday near the rocky coastline attempting to recover Siegel's dive equipment, which was removed in the water by rescuers during the incident. Once recovered, the equipment will be examined, which is standard protocol in an event like this. 

The incident remains under investigation.

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