EXCLUSIVE: Cancun scuba captain says experienced American marine biologists were killed in ‘tragic accident’ when ANOTHER company’s boat propellers ‘hit them on the head’ after charging onto shipwreck site instead of waiting their turn
- An American man and woman aged 65 and 60 were killed on Friday while diving in Isla Mujeres, off the coast of Cancun
- They were diving at a shipwreck with Squalo Adventures, which has operated on the island for 16 years
- The two marine biologists were joined by two other divers and a divemaster
- They were making their way back to their boat when a larger boat operated by Scuba Cancun arrived at the site
- Rather than wait for Squalo’s divers to rise to the surface, Scuba Cancun’s boat Mr. Tom sailed over them
- The ‘huge’ propellers struck the two Americans on the head, the owner of Squalo Adventures told DailyMail.com
- The two single Americans were ‘very experienced’ divers – their families are now on the way
Andres is the owner of the scuba company the two Americans were diving with. He told DailyMail.com another company’s boat interrupted their dive and sailed over them
The owner of the Cancun scuba diving company in charge of two Americans who were killed in the water in a propeller accident on Friday has revealed to DailyMail.com that another company’s boat struck them on the head, causing them to die.
The two Americans have not yet been identified but they were a man and a woman, both single, aged 60 and 65. DailyMail.com can reveal that they were experienced divers and marine biologists with over 20 years of experience.
Their families are now on the way to Isla Mujeres and Cancun to retrieve their bodies.
The pair were taking part in a four hour, two tank dive at a shipwreck in Isla Mujeres that was arranged by Squalo Adventures.
The owner of the company, who gave his name only as Andres, told DailyMail.com that they were nearing the end of their dive and using buoy lines to make their way back to their boat when Mr. Tom, a larger vessel owned by the Cancun-based Scuba Cancun, sailed over them.
Mr. Tom’s propellers’ struck the two Americans fatally on the head, according to Andres. The other two divers and the divemaster survived.
This boat – owned by Scuba Cancun – arrived at the shipwreck while the Americans were still in the water. Andres says its ‘huge’ propellers struck the two Americans on the head and killed them. Courtesy Riviera Maya News
The ‘Mr Tom’ boat has now been seized by the authorities in Isla Mujeres
‘It was a tragic accident,’ Andres said on Saturday. He added that it is an ‘international pact’ among divers to wait at a dive site if another boat is already there to avoid such an accident, but that Scuba Cancun ignored it.
Instead, they sailed through in a hurry, their propellers chugging through the water, to drop their own divers off.
Mexican media reports that the captain of Mr. Tom is now in custody. He has not been named.
Andres was not on the dive but his divemaster and the other two divers who survived relayed to him what happened in horrifying detail.
‘We were diving on a shipwreck… the other big huge boat was passing through and it hit us.
‘They didn’t take any precautions – we were the only ones there.
‘The propellers are very large – they hit the two experienced divers on the head and they did not survive. It killed them.’
The Americans were diving with Squalo Adventures, which has operated on the island for 16 years
This is the type of boat the Americans were making their way back to when the much larger boat sailed over them and fatally injured them
‘They did not follow the rules, they just wanted to drop their divers off. They did not respect the area
‘When you are diving, you have to wait in line. Everyone knows,’ he added.
Andres has been running the center on Isla Mujeres for 16 years. He runs various snorkel and scuba excursions.
The trip the Americans were taking part in was a four-hour dive to the wreckage of the USS Harlequin which the Mexican Navy sank in 1980 in order to create an artificial reef. Squalo sells the dive for $115 per person.
The company advises on its website that the shipwreck is more suitable to advanced divers.
Scuba Cancun, which operates out of mainland Cancun, sells a four-hour dive at the shipwreck for only $77 per person.
That is the tour they were preparing to drop people off for on Friday when the Americans were killed. It is not known how many people were taking part but it is advertised on Scuba Cancun’s website as being for certified divers only.
The two Americans were part of a larger group who have been visiting Isla Mujeres for years, Andres added.
The US Embassy in Cancun did not respond to inquiries on Saturday about what kind of consular assistance it is providing.
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