Belize: Divemaster deflects blame for scuba divers death

The survivors of a disaster at sea off the coast of southern Belize continue to recuperate from the traumatic experience.

All three of the SCUBA divers have now been released from the hospital and are under private medical care at a local hotel. We understand tonight that as soon as they are well enough to tell their story, they will be sharing details of the tragedy with the public.

For his part, owner/operator of Advance Diving in Placencia, Vance Cabral declined an on camera interview with News Five, informing us he has retained legal counsel. But for the record, Cabral maintains that the events of Saturday, October twenty-second was not a diving accident.

According to Cabral, several snorkellers stayed with him on Silk Caye, while divemaster Henry "Bee Bee" Tucker took four SCUBA divers to a site near Gladden Spit.

But halfway to the site, Cabral says the boat experienced engine problems. He insists that he could see the vessel clearly from the caye and that it was anchored.

Why the boat later started to drift is still unclear tonight, but Cabral reiterates Tucker's claims that he told the divers to wait in the boat until help came.

Furthermore, Cabral is adamant that it was the decision of the four divers to get into the water dressed in their SCUBA gear and swim back to the caye. As we reported earlier this week, Tucker stayed on board, drifting for more than twenty hours until he neared Northeast Caye on the Glover's Reef atoll.

From there he jumped off and swam approximately three miles to the caye. Tonight police officials told News Five tonight that a full investigation has been launched into the incident.

Source: www.channel5belize.com