Divers brawl at a depth of 15 meters near a Maldivian reef: guide tried to rip off breathing apparatus

A fight broke out between an instructor and a group of divers during a dive at a depth of about 15 meters near the Kuda Rah Thila reef in the Maldives. According to the reports, one of the participants tried to rip the breathing equipment off the instructor. Maldives Legend Fleet suspended one of the guides, and the boating association called on the police and the Ministry of Tourism to conduct an investigation.

Otabek YusupovFirst published on tafs uz 6 November 2026 at 09:012 min read

The key facts

The fight occurred during a dive near the Kuda Rah Thila reef at a depth of about 15 meters
According to instructor Xiao Du, three divers acted against him, one of whom allegedly tried to snatch the breathing regulator
Maldives Legend Fleet suspended one dive guide from work, and the Maldives boating association called on the police and the Ministry of Tourism to investigate

What happened underwater

A fight broke out between divers during a dive near the Maldivian reef Kuda Rah Thila at a depth of about 15 meters. This was reported by Life.ru and Gazeta.Ru citing The Sun. According to diving instructor Xiao Du, he was exploring the reef with an acquaintance when three unfamiliar divers approached them. One of them swam up from below and pushed the instructor, after which the argument escalated into a fight: the published footage shows one of the men repeatedly grabbing the instructor's arm, while the instructor tries to fend him off with his fins.

An attempt to tear off breathing equipment

Sources describe the key moment of the conflict differently. Life.ru writes that the man, presumably a local dive guide, tried to pull the breathing regulator out of the instructor's mouth, without which he could have suffocated. Gazeta.Ru claims that the attacker tried to tear off the mask that 'allows breathing,' and specifies that the instructor was attacked by a dive guide from another vessel, after which the others intervened. What both descriptions have in common is the main point: the attack was aimed at equipment on which a person's life underwater depends. Xiao Du managed to break free and surface. Already on board the vessel, he accused those involved in the conflict of trying to deprive him of the ability to breathe underwater and, according to him, three people acted against him at once.

Reaction and investigation

Maldives Legend Fleet, the company with which the dive was made, said it had passed information about the incident to the competent authorities and suspended one of the dive guides from work pending clarification of the circumstances, emphasizing the need for an impartial investigation. The National Boating Association of the Maldives expressed concern and called on the police and the Ministry of Tourism to conduct an inquiry. The circumstances of the conflict and the actions of its participants are still being established; the sources do not draw conclusions about who exactly provoked the fight.