AFP – The US Coast Guard said Tuesday it was investigating a Florida tourism company that left behind two tourists while they were scuba diving.

The tourists — Paul Kline and Fernando Garcia Puerta — were rescued by a private yacht which found them clinging to a buoy in shark-infested waters.

“The incident is under investigation,” Coast Guard spokeswoman Sabrina Elgammal told AFP.

“We got a call that the two people were picked up in the sea and there was no medical harm and they went back to port,” she said.

RJ Diving Ventures of Miami Beach took a group of 30 people, including Kline and Garcia, in a boat to scuba dive in the open ocean, the Miami Herald reported.

When Kline and Garcia surfaced, however, they found that the boat had gone.

“We were in shock,” Kline, 44, told the newspaper. “We could easily have died.”

RJ Diving Ventures did not respond to requests for comment.

The two said they clung to a fishing buoy and around 6:00 pm as it was getting dark they were spotted by passengers on a yacht.

“We could see two divers with all their equipment and an inflated red tube,” the yacht’s capitan Elie Trichet told the Herald.

“You could notice a strong feeling of relief” Trichet said. “They had been clinging to that buoy for two hours hoping somebody would rescue them.”

The original article can be found here: Scuba divers left behind in Florida

Thanks goes to ChrisFromDetroit from DiveVets for pointing the below article out.

There is speculation that the tank was made from an old Aluminum alloy that has been known to develop cracks and be susceptible to exploding.

However, tanks tend to not just explode.

I’m not trying to make light of this tragedy, but my guess is the tank was severely over filled, or it was a “hit” that was made to look like an accident.

As long as SCUBA tanks pass VIP and a hydro test and they aren’t compromised structurally since, tanks just don’t exploded.

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St. Pete veteran killed by exploding scuba tank

Photo by Andy Jones Tampa Bay Online Staff

By RACHEL PLEASANT, JOSÉ PATIÑO GIRONA | The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 11, 2011
Updated: September 12, 2011 – 7:15 AM

ST. PETERSBURG — An Iraq War veteran who moved to the Tampa Bay area to pursue his love of diving died Sunday after the scuba tank he was carrying exploded.

Russell Vanhorn II, 23, was carrying the scuba tank to his car about 6:50 a.m., getting ready for a planned diving trip, when it exploded.

The force of the explosion blew out the front door and windows of Vanhorn’s apartment at 5875 37th Ave. N. The explosion also sent debris flying as far away as 75 feet. Some of that debris blew out the windows of cars parked nearby.

Vanhorn was taken to St. Petersburg General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 8 a.m., said St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue Lt. Joel Granata.

The entire article can be found here: St. Pete veteran killed by exploding scuba tank