Chinese tourist drowns in diving mishap in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU, Sabah - A Chinese couple’s diving trip to the beautiful Sipadan Island of Semporna in Sabah turned ugly when the man drowned in an unfortunate turn of events.

The 37-year-old victim was with his wife and a group of other divers and their guides during to the May 19 morning accident.

According to Semporna police chief Mohd Sabri Zainol, the authorities received a call about the death of a Chinese tourist at 6.45pm.

“The call was from one of the dive masters, who informed us that he and four other guides had brought with them a total of eight divers of various nationalities to the dive site,” he said in a statement.

At 10.45am on May 19, one of the divers had jumped into the sea without permission from his guide and started to sink, said Mr Mohd Sabri.

He said the boatman saw the victim panicking and going underwater, so he informed the crew, prompting an emergency search and rescue.

The divers searched and found the victim from a depth of about 25m, and he was quickly brought to the surface and hauled up the boat, he said, adding emergency resuscitation was performed.

“The victim remained unconscious, was barely breathing and vomited a few times,” Mr Mohd Sabri said.

The victim was first taken to the Semporna Hospital for treatment before he was transferred to the Tawau Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, added Mr Mohd Sabri.

“We have classified this case as sudden death and a post-mortem will be conducted on Tuesday afternoon,” he said.

He urged those with more information to come forward and assist police in their probe.

The officer to call is Assistant Superintendent Mohammad Ali Amat at 013-2120852, or they can also head to any police station to provide information. THE STAR/ASIA