MANILA, Philippines—Two Russian tourists died after being swept away by strong undercurrents while scuba diving in seas south of Manila, one suspected to have drowned and the other bitten by sharks, a Philippine coast guard officer said Friday.
Two additional Russian visitors were able to swim safely back to their dive boat Thursday near Verde Island, a renowned diving site in Batangas Province, according to Philippine Coast Guard Provincial Commander Capt. Airland Lapitan.
The four Russian visitors proceeded by boat to the seas off Verde Island from the adjacent town of Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro Province, accompanied by a Filipino diving instructor. Strong undercurrents took the five away as they were diving, according to Lapitan.
Two of the Russians surfaced with the diving instructor, while the other two, Ilia Peregudin, 29, and Maksim Melekhov, 39, remain missing. According to Lapitan, the diving instructor and other divers in the vicinity, as well as Philippine Coast Guard officials, initiated an urgent search.
Melekhov was discovered comatose at sea an hour later and pronounced dead by physicians at a Batangas hospital, he added.
“The other Russian diver was found while being attacked by sharks. His right arm, unfortunately, had been severed and the sharks were moving around him,” Lapitan told The Associated Press. “They somehow managed to pull him away.”
An investigation is ongoing, and the coast guard will meet with provincial authorities to explore how to prevent such fatal accidents at Verde Island and other dive sites, according to Lapitan.
