A military diver who died trying to recover the bodies of four Italian tourists trapped 200 feet underwater in a cave in the Maldives was \u201cnot trained\u201d to carry out such missions, according to his former boss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sgt. Major Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died from underwater decompression sickness Saturday when he tried to recover the adventure seekers who vanished<\/a> during last week\u2019s scuba diving excursion.<\/p>\n He was \u201cone of the best\u201d divers around \u2014 but not trained for the mission that proved fatal, his military mentor, Shafraz Naeem, told the Maldives Independent.<\/a><\/p>\n Mohamed Mahudhee, a Maldives Coast Guard diver, died trying to save the Italian tourists who died on an underwater dive. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n The dive team \u201cwent on normal air \u2026 They are not trained to go into caves,\u201d maintained Naeem, whom the local outlet called the country\u2019s most accomplished cave diver.<\/p>\n Divers \u201cneed special training\u201d because the caves are \u201cvery unforgiving and dangerous,\u201d the retired military expert said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am saying they shouldn\u2019t have gone in, knowing that it\u2019s dangerous,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mahudhee, 44, was part of a team of eight divers tasked with trying to find the bodies. They had cleared two of the three chambers within the cave \u2013 around 200-feet deep \u2013 but he failed to reappear.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big cavern, the first chamber. The entrance is at around [180 feet] and it gets deeper and deeper,\u201d Naeem explained.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter that there\u2019s a tunnel of sorts, a connection that leads onto the second chamber, which starts at [230 feet] and goes on to about [255 feet] \u2013 that\u2019s also a big chamber.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot see the whole cave unless you have very good lights \u2013 you cannot see it from your normal dive light.\u201d<\/p>\n Military divers are seen preparing for Saturday\u2019s dive. via REUTERS<\/p>\n Other experienced local divers agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cThis operation should never have gone ahead under these conditions,\u201d Fahd Faiz said in a Facebook post.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe entire situation was screaming for disaster from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n Mourners pray for Mahudhee at his funeral. AP Photo\/Mohamed Sharhaan<\/p>\n Divers often turn to trimix \u2013 a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and helium \u2013 when carrying out dives beyond 130 feet, but Mahudhee\u00a0was breathing compressed air.<\/p>\n \u201cA cave dive at almost [190 feet] with normal air already presents multiple risk factors,\u201d Naeem told the Italian news agency ANSA Saturday, according to Il Sore 24 Ore<\/a>.<\/p>\n The recovery mission was paused in light of Mahudhee\u2019s death before it resumed Monday.<\/p>\n