A diving trip turned to tragedy after two divers tragically died under the worst circumstances. One was attacked and mauled by a shark, and another drowned in the water. Both got caught in a dangerous undercurrent that swept them away.
There were four Russian divers in total who had gone on a dive trip in the Philippines. Their ages ranged from 18 to 57. There was also a local dive instructor in the water as well. The incident happened at the Batangas resort on Thursday. Two of the divers got separated by strong undercurrents. Meanwhile, the other two and their instructor managed to make it back to the boat.
Sadly, 29-year-old Ilia Peregudin and 39-year-old Maksim Melekhov died in the water. One of them was attacked by a shark. Meanwhile, another drowned in the water. After the two went missing, local coast guard, as well as their friends, launched a search to try to find them. They located the first diver in the sea, floating, according to Daily Mail.
Shark Attacks Diver
Sadly, he later died at the hospital, according to coast guard district chief Airland Lapitan Lapitan. They identified the diver as Melekhov. Hospital staff declared him dead after an attempt to save his life.
They later found the missing second diver that evening. It was apparent that he had been mauled and attacked by sharks. In fact, it took them half an hour to get him away from a swarm of sharks that had surrounded his corpse. It was quite a graphic sight. The man had apparently lost his right arm in the attack.
However, it's not clear if the man died from the shark attack or if he was attacked after death. Authorities say that his family will need to approve an autopsy to learn the truth.
Officials are currently investigating the deaths of the two men. But it sounds like it was a terrible accident. While shark attacks are rare, it's unknown how far from shore the two divers were and the exact nature of the attack.
