Pedro Volta: Drowning escape artist rescued from tank of water after stunt goes wrong

Video shows escapist fall motionless after two minutes underwater

An escape artist nearly drowned in a tank of water after failing to work himself free from a straightjacket.

Pedro Volta had to be rescued after he struggled to untie the straightjacket and escape from the water during a magic festival.

Footage of Mr Volta’s close call, filmed at the Plaza del Doctor Gerada in Navacerrada, near Madrid, showed him falling motionless after around two minutes in the tank.

As the crowd watches, those helping Mr Volta with the trick realise something is wrong and throw off the lid of the tank in order to pull him out.

Mr Volta was revived and told the Cope Network he was “four minutes in cardiorespiratory arrest, literally dead”, according to El Mundo.

He said the trick went wrong when he took too long to unlock the first buckle of his straightjacket.

The escapist said he expended too much energy doing so and succumbed to exhaustion.

But he said he was “very happy” to have survived the trick.

Mr Volta went on to say he wanted to apologise for the shocking scenes, but would keep on performing because he believes “magic is a wonderful art and it’s worth it”.