Scuba-Explosives School Students Being Investigated
Authorities are investigating three men who enrolled in a scuba-diving course that taught the use of underwater explosives and then did not complete the course, police said today.
The three paid $4,180 each for the commercial diving course about six months ago, but two never turned up and the third attended only one lesson, the Sunday Star-Times newspaper reported.
Police confirmed that they were investigating the incident but would give no further details.
The newspaper did not explain why the use of underwater explosives would be taught at the school.
The paper quoted the owner of the dive shop in the town of Hamilton as saying he became suspicious and contacted local police after the three men, who he believed were Middle Easterners, failed to ask for a refund.
The owner told the newspaper that the three men said they had no diving experience. The man who attended one lesson later phoned to say he had broken an arm and a leg and would not return.
In the United States, the FBI began checking dive shops around the country in May to see if Al Qaeda operatives had been taking scuba training.
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