A diver sadly died today while working on the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, reports state he gashed his leg on an underwater metal sheet while preparing the wreck for removal.

Italy’s civil protection agency, which is overseeing the removal of the Concordia from Tuscany’s coast, said the diver was 30-years old and hailed from Spain.

He was brought quickly to the surface but was declared dead at the scene.

Tuscany’s La Nazione newspaper said the diver had been working on preparations to affix huge tanks onto sides of the Concordia to float the ship off its false seabed and tow it to a port for eventual dismantling. It said he apparently gashed his leg on an underwater metal sheet and was then unable to get free, bleeding profusely before a diver colleague was able to bring him to the surface.

The 114,500-tonne vessel hit rocks on January 13, 2012, killing 32 people. She was hauled upright in a complex “parbuckling” operation in September but still rests where she capsized. It is hoped she will be towed away for scrapping at some point this year.

Such a tragedy!