Unknown American drowns on Lighthouse Reef - Belize

[DandyDon]

American tourist drowns while diving at Lighthouse Reef

An American tourist tragically drowned on Monday morning during a diving expedition at Lighthouse Reef.

www.breakingbelizenews.com

An American tourist tragically drowned on Monday morning during a diving expedition at Lighthouse Reef.

The deceased has been identified as 45-year-old Sagar Dhanasekhar of North Carolina, USA. According to John Garraway, a 70-year-old Belizean Dive Master supervising the trip, Dhanasekhar was part of a group of 18 certified divers participating in a recreational dive.

At approximately 8:00 a.m., Dhanasekhar was found floating motionless about 40 yards from the dive boat. Despite immediate efforts to resuscitate him through CPR, he was unresponsive.

Dhanasekhar was later pronounced dead at 3:43 p.m. by Dr. Morejon. Authorities report that no signs of physical violence were observed on the body. His remains have been transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital morgue, where a postmortem examination will be conducted as part of the ongoing investigation.

 

[Steelyeyes]

I wonder if he had a buddy.

 

[Brodydog]

Certified Diver Dies During Group Dive at Belize’s Lighthouse Reef - The Scuba News

A certified diving excursion at the renowned Lighthouse Reef in Belize took a tragic turn this week when a U.S. tourist lost his life during the outing

www.thescubanews.com

 

[JohnN]

1 DM, 18 divers of unknown skill level, what could possibly go wrong

 

[gmerick]

Guide by a Dive Master. Sure doesn't sound like it was a Discover Scuba, or OW / AOW instruction. The DM was there to lead. Where does a 6:1 or 8:1 ratio come in except in a training environment? My best boat dive experiences are when the DM briefs the dive, then says "Pool's Open". If it's a complex dive site, there may be a call for a DM to lead the way, acting as a Dive Guide for divers that want that type of assistance. I'd hope the DM asked to be a leader is acknowledged in tips. Brief the dive, take a roll call at the end of the dive.

 

[Endler's]

'Wonder what his dive buddy would say?

 

[therookie]

From my research for a trip we were thinking of doing a couple of years ago - in Belize, if you are diving off a boat with a legitimate operator a guide is required by law, with (based on the most recent statutes I could find) a maximum of eight divers per DM.

If this is the operation that I think it is then I believe the story in this post is incomplete and there were actually more guides for the group than the one mentioned by name in the story - they would be crazy to not follow the laws of the country.

Let's wait to see if more info comes out before we jump to conclusions...

 

[Scared Silly]

@gmerick Before posting always good to do some basic research.

Here are the STANDARDS (BELIZE STANDARD: CODE OF PRACTICE FOR RECREATIONAL SCUBA DIVING SERVICES) (DECLARATION OF COMPULSORY STANDARD) ORDER, 2016

3.13 recreational scuba diving ratio: means 1:8; i.e, 1 guide per every eight (8) certified diver:

 

[Steelyeyes]

18 divers and one DM? Wow. Lighthouse Reef was on of the best dives of my life.

 

[wgw04024]

If it's not under instruction, to me the DM is simply there to show the route, and we follow 'very' loosely.