[Andreas Triantopoulos]

One dead, 10 hurt - bad air blamed

A Russian diver has been killed and 10 others injured from allegedly contaminated air fills aboard a Maldives liveaboard.

It is thought that carbon monoxide poisoning from fills from one of two compressors may have resulted in the death of Roman Kudarov, 41, injured eight other diving charterers and hospitalised two diving instructors.

There were 14 passengers aboard the dive boat Baani Adventurer, operated by Maldives Liveaboards, diving at Rai Dhigaa Thila in South Ari Atoll.

Divers were said to have experienced headaches over the three days before the incidents occurred, and a dive guide who had himself had headaches was reported to have asked the crew for filter changes on the compressors.

According to diver Lee Findlay, two groups of seven entered the water for an early-morning dive.
The first were said to have started surfacing after about 20 minutes, some semi-conscious. Kudarov was found floating face-down in the water.

'The crew did not appear to know what to do, so my wife [who had sat out the dive after having headaches previously] started CPR and several of them simply stood around and watched,' said Findlay.

The single oxygen cylinder abord the diving dhoni was said not to have been working, and the divers had to be recovered and returned to the main vessel before a functioning cylinder could be deployed.

Divers, including his own buddy, had started to experience problems when they ascended past 15m, claimed Findlay. He said that most divers on the dhoni were incapacitated, with the guides particularly badly affected. They were later evacuated to hospital in the capital Male by seaplane, and the passengers taken by fast launch for check-ups.

Kudarov was married with two children.


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