One drowned, while the other was attacked by sharks: two Russians have died in the Philippines.

Two Russian tourists died in the Philippines while diving. One drowned, and the other was attacked by sharks. A representative of the Philippine Coast Guard reported that the incident occurred near Verde Island. This was reported by Manila Bulletin.

Captain Airland Lapitan, the commander of the Philippine Coast Guard, stated that on February 27, a group of four Russians along with a diving instructor went diving in the waters of Verde Island from the nearby town of Puerto Galera in the province of Oriental Mindoro.

During the dive, they were all swept away by a strong underwater current.

Two Russians (57-year-old Eduard Peregudin and 18-year-old Timofey Peregudin) managed to surface along with the diving instructor, but the other two, later identified as Ilya Peregudin, 29, and Maxim Melekhov, 39, went missing. The diving instructor and other divers in the area, along with Philippine Coast Guard personnel, immediately began the search, Lapitan reported.

According to him, an hour later, Melekhov was found unconscious in the sea, and doctors at Batangas Hospital declared him dead.

Peregudin was reportedly torn apart by sharks, with the victim's arm found separately from the body. It was reported that "rescuers had difficulty retrieving the victim's body due to the shark-infested waters."

Shark attacks in the waters around the Philippines are extremely rare; there have been no recorded shark attacks in coastal waters for 2024.

Recall that in mid-February, an incident involving a shark occurred on the resort islands of Turks and Caicos. The marine predator bit off the arms of a 55-year-old tourist who attempted to grab the shark for a selfie.