An incorrect mix of gases in the divers' tanks or human error may have been behind the tragedy in which five Italians lost their lives scuba diving in an underwater cave in the Maldives Thursday, an expert told ANSA Friday.
One of the unanswered questions concerns the gas mix in the tanks used by the divers.
Under certain conditions, even natural gases like oxygen can become toxic, observes Gerardo Bosco, full professor of Sports Physiology at the University of Chieti and director of the Master's Program in Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine.
It is therefore very important to recover the tanks for analysis, just as both the wrist computers and the anatomical pathological analyses will reveal much more.
As for the tanks, the mix is prepared on board the vessel and agreed upon with the divers, especially when diving to 50 meters, which, the expert notes, "exceeds the limits of recreational diving and falls within a technical scope." Typically, the tanks are calibrated with a mix of physiological gases, such as oxygen and nitrogen.
