A diver has died after being stung in the chest by a stingray at a Singapore aquarium, the aquarium's owner said on Wednesday, Rеuters reported.

According to the newspaper, Philip Chan, 62, head diver at Underwater World Singapore (UWS), was preparing the animals for transfer to another aquarium on Tuesday when he was injured then was taken to hospital where he died later in the day.

Underwater World Singapore had been closed to the public since June with Chan, who had worked at the aquarium since it opened in 1991, one of 10 staff kept on to care for the animals until suitable homes had been found.

Most stingrays, common in coastal tropical waters, have one or more stingers on their tail which they use in self-defense.