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TWO tourists were found dead, with one discovered in the jaws of a shark, after being swept away by strong undercurrents while scuba diving.
Two other tourists were able to swim back safely to their dive boat on Thursday off Verde Island, south of Manila, the Philippines.
Four Russian men aged 18 to 57 travelled via boat off Verde Island with a Filipino dive instructor to dive on Thursday afternoon near the resort area of Batangas on the main island of Luzon.
But disaster soon struck after they and their dive master were pulled apart by the deadly current.
Some of the group were able to come to the surface and safely return to the boat.
But the two others, identified as Ilia Peregudin, 29, and Maksim Melekhov, 39, were tragically discovered by rescuers hours later, a Philippine coat guard said on Friday.
Maksim was found unconscious at sea and was declared dead by doctors in a Batangas hospital.
Philippine coast guard provincial commander Capt. Airland Lapitan said: “The other one was found at about 4-5:30 pm and retrieved around 5-6 pm.
“When the rescuers found him, he was being pulled by a shark.
“He was eventually retrieved but his arm was missing.”
It was unclear if the man had been killed by the shark or was already dead, Lapitan said.
This is because the bodies were turned over to family members without an autopsy.
Shark attacks in and around the Philippines waters are very rare, with none recorded in at least a year, according to a global database.
An investigation is currently underway, and the coast guard is to meet provincial officials for talks on how to prevent such deadly incidents at Verde Island, along with other dive spots.
