Two Russian divers were found dead, one in the jaws of a shark, after a strong current separated them from their group in a popular Philippine scuba spot, a coast guard official said Friday.
Four Russians — 57-year-old Eduart Perigudin, his two sons Timofy and Ilya, aged 18 and 29, and another man — were diving near the Batangas resort area on the main island of Luzon Thursday afternoon when they and their dive master were pulled apart by an underwater current, district coast guard chief Airland Lapitan told AFP.
Ilya Perigudin was missing both arms when he was pulled dead from waters in which multiple sharks were seen, according to a coast guard statement.
“His remains were found floating near the shoreline… with both arms missing due to an apparent shark attack. Multiple sharks were observed in the vicinity during the recovery,” the statement said.
/ AP
Lapitan had earlier told AFP the 29-year-old “was being pulled by a shark” when rescuers located him in the late afternoon.
But it was unclear if he had been killed by a shark or was already dead, Lapitan said, adding that the bodies had been turned over to family members without an autopsy.
The second victim, identified as M. Melekhov by Moscow’s TASS news agency citing the Russian embassy, was found about an hour earlier and declared dead on arrival after being transported to a local hospital.
Eduart Perigudin, his younger son Timofy and their dive master were able to surface and make it back to the boat, Lapitan said.
The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the incident, the Philippines coast guard said in a statement that divers and dive operators should “exercise heightened vigilance and adhere to strict safety protocols, particularly in areas with strong currents and active marine life.”
/ AP
Shark attacks in the waters around the Philippines are exceedingly rare, with none recorded in at least a year, according to a global database.
Shark attacks — particularly deadly ones — dropped substantially last year around the world, according to a recent report by the International Shark Attack File,
Of 88 alleged shark-human interactions that researchers say they investigated last year, 71 bites were confirmed. The report segmented those incidents into unprovoked and provokes bites, of which there were 47 and 24, respectively. Seven of the attacks were fatal, including four unprovoked attacks, according to the research.