A diving instructor may be declared the sole suspect in a diving accident in which a Taiwanese tourist was killed and her husband injured, Bali Water Police said Monday.

"We have collected enough evidence to name Nyoman Mardiana, the diving instructor, as a suspect," head of the law enforcement unit at the Bali Water Police Adj. Comr. Rai Suwandi told The Jakarta Post.

"The charge will be centered on the fact that he had left the tourists unsupervised during the dive. So he was negligent about the safety of his clients."

During the initial questioning session, he added, Mardiana admitted he left the tourists and went to the surface for about five minutes to fetch a camera from the waiting boat.

Mardiana claimed the tourists had specifically asked him to get the camera.

When he dived again, Mardiana reportedly stated, the tourists were not where he had left them. Mardiana said he believed the fatal accident took place when he was still on the surface.

"Actually he should have ensured nothing was going to happen first before he left the tourists and went to the surface to get the camera," Suwandi said.

He said Mardiana would be charged with negligence resulting in loss of life, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The accident took place Sunday in the area off Tanjung Benoa, about 30 kilometers southeast of Denpasar. Tanjung Benoa is the island's center of water sports.

The Taiwanese couple, Mong Bo Xue and Hao Ling Xia, took a diving trip with Mardiana. When the diving instructor eventually found the couple both were unconscious. He took them straight to the hospital.

Hao Ling Xia was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Her husband is in intensive care at the Kasih Ibu Hospital. Hao Ling Xia's body was taken to the Sanglah Central Hospital in Denpasar.

The details of the accident and the cause of death remain sketchy. Investigating officers currently believe the couple's scuba tanks had run out of oxygen, and will release further information in the next few days.

According to local newspapers, Bali Water Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Oka S Wara planned to summon the managers of Rai water sports, where Mardiana worked, to question them over the company's safety procedures.

"We will consider revoking the company's license if they fail to convince us they applied the right safety procedures," Wara said, as reported by Nusa Bali.

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