A Chinese couple holidaying in the Maldives disappeared from their resort on Saturday after they went for a swim, according to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).
The 38 year old woman and 40 year old man were holidaying with their 13 year-old daughter on the Hilton Irufushi Beach and Spa Resort in Noonu Atoll.
Lieutenant Abdulla Jaleel said that MNDF had already searched 102 square miles from air and sea, attempting to locate the lost couple.
“Yesterday we checked near Rehendi Resort, today we started to search near Dhigufaru island,’’ said Jaleel. “We have been unable to discover any sign of them.’’
“On that day, we received a report from a speed boat travelling in the area that they thought they had seen a woman lying face down on the surface, but when they turned towards the direction of the woman to check, she had vanished,’’ Jaleel said. “MNDF Nothern Area coast guard immediately went to the area, but there was no sign of them.’’
Daily newspaper Haveeru reported that the couple and their daughter went to the beach and that their daughter walked around the beach collecting shells while her mother and father were swimming. When she came back she noticed her parents were missing.
Jaleel said that the missing couple’s daugter was now under observation at Irufushi resort.
The resort issued a statement today saying it had immediately launched its emergency search and rescue plan, and contacted the MNDF Coast Guard.
“The hotel is assisting the authorities and all efforts are being made to locate the guests. The well being, safety and security of our guests are of paramount importance and the Hilton Maldives / Iru Fushi Resort & Spa continues to make every effort to ensure that all practises and standards are in line with strict safety and security regulations,” the resort said.
On February 27, a 69 year old German tourist died while snorkelling at Embudhu Village Resort in Kaafu Atoll, eight kilometres from Male’.
On March 1, a Chinese tourist died while snorkeling at Chaaya Lagoon Hakurahura Island Resort. Two weeks later on March 14 a second Chinese tourist died at Holiday Inn Kandooma Resort.
Correction: A previous version of article incorrectly stated that a Chinese couple died at Holiday Inn Kandooma Resort on March 14. The male guest died while the female guest was revived.
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This is very very sad news. My heart goes out for the young daughter left behind. Think its high time some regularity meassure is done to curb this. Like a mandatory law to have life guards in popular beach spots in resorts. Or non swimming or snorkelling areas during strong currents.
May god bless them.
Compulsory lifeguard service. Not only in resorts, but all inhabited islands. Coast Guard should run it. "DhiBaywatch", eh?
I have a very, very bad feeling about this. I will not speak of it, until I can ascertain what happened.
Also...
"Jaleel said that the missing couple’s _daugter_ was now under observation at Irufushi resort."
That, sir, is a typo.
Did they go snorkeling too far or too deep? Surely there must be a better explanation given of the previous deaths so that we can also caution tourists to not go too far from the island without supervision.
Nazeer.. I feel you should change the headline...when we read the head line it appears the parents abondon the child. Its actually a tragic and I feel the wording should more appropriate.
its tragic and its a shame we do not have life guards in the resorts.
I disagree with those who wants to have life guards around the beach in each resort. Maldives we promote exclusive privacy and hideaway tourism. Its a tragic accident, these things happen every where in the world. But very often these tourists who come from mainland China and other big cities, might have not seen ocean in their life time, they get exited and with excitement, accidentally they get lost. We can ask tour operators to guide the tourists about the lagoons and how its formed, these are not regulated swimming pools around these islands, they should be careful when they go snorkeling.
I dont know what to say
i m a big fan of minivannews but u guys seem to suck with your slow updates and carefree style of managing your webiste like for almost one week i saw ur websites news update never updated. without bringing shame to the news papaer who ever is taking the lead pls. resign or just shut down the site with a good name
Can Chinese tourists swim? They keep getting drowned. If Chinese people are not so good at swimming they must be warned about going out deep when they arrive at the resort
I was staying at the resort when the couple went missing. The lagoon area is quite large and would unfortunately be difficult to patrol. The staff do warn you not to go outside the lagoon as the currents are incredibly strong. Felt awful the last few days of my holiday knowing this poor little girl was there alone waiting on her mum and dad coming back. God bless her.
Cx
Oh my god!As a Chinese, very sorry to hear this news! Like to take this event to remind all the visitors, his own life!
I was also out ther when this happened, and i do agree it is a very big area and would be very hard to control, Also when this tragic did happen we was all informed from the resort and was advised to read the safty book. It was so awful hearing this and knowing that the little girl was on her own, but she was looked after on the resort untill a family member flew over to take her home.
she is my best colleague and friend who work with me in Philips 3 years ago......I am so sad for her and her family...... I am in USA, i can not help anything for her daughter but donation.....
I miss her so much.
Hello.
It is quite late to post a comment here I suppose. But does anyone have any idea how the girl is holding on? I am a psychiatrist in India, and I was there in Maldives when this happened. I was called in from IGMH for counseling the girl.
With the help of a translator, I could assess the amount of shock the girl was going through, but one single counseling session can't be effective, especially one day after the mishap.
Wherever the girl is, I hope she is doing ok.
Abhijeet
Thank you for your home are okay.