A US tourist died of a suspected heart attack during a dive trip yesterday afternoon.

The man was participating in a dive from the vessel Tenacity at North Rock 12 miles off-shore, when he was taken ill. He was today named as 52-year-old James Norman Miller, of Sharpsville, Indiana.

The alert was raised at 4.05 p.m . Having arrived on-shore at 5.07 p.m he was transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The exact cause of death remains unclear at this time, according to Graham Maddocks, owner of Triangle Dive, which operates Tenacity. However, he said, the victim is believed to have suffered a massive heart attack and died at the scene.

“We were lucky enough to have a doctor and two paramedics on board at the time,” said Mr. Maddocks, explaining they assisted staff with giving Mr. Miller CPR.

* See tomorrow’s Royal Gazette for the full story.