Friends of missing diver in Dubai raise more than $52k to help with search in Persian Gulf
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Friends of an experienced Algerian diver who went missing 32 kilometers (20 miles) off Dubai have raised $55,000 to assist rescue teams in their search after he disappeared while spearfishing.
Adel Ait-Ghezala, a doctoral student at the American University in Washington, went missing Wednesday afternoon after he went free diving with friends in the Persian Gulf.
Family friend Abdullah Al-Arian said Monday that the money was raised in two days through a crowd-funding website. Friends say the donations will be used for volunteers to charter boats and helicopters for a more expansive search.
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Ait-Ghezala's brother Ahmed says Dubai rescue teams are searching the waters and "doing their utmost to find Adel."
Friends and family say they still trying to figure out why Ait-Ghezala failed to surface from the dive.