A 36 year-old Chinese tourist was found dead off the coast of Sun Island Resort and Spa yesterday afternoon, police have reported.
Police did not identify the tourist but stated that he was last seen snorkeling with other tourists staying on the island.
”His body was discovered by another tourist on the island,” police said in a statement. ”He was declared dead by the resort’s health centre.”
Tourists snorkeling with the man reported his disappearence to the reception. Resort staff searched for the man before his body was discovered by another tourist.,
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the body had been brought to Male’, and police were now investigating the incident.
The resort had not responded to enquiries at time of press.
Chinese visitors last year numerically constituted one of the largest tourism markets for the Maldives, with off-season arrivals from China compensating for the impact of the economic crisis in traditional European markets.
However last year Chinese tourists also made up a disproportionate number of tourist fatalities, usually while snorkeling.
In September 2010 a 48-year old Chinese woman who had been snorkeling at Paradise Island Resort and Spa was pronounced dead after she was pulled from the water and rushed to ADK hospital.
In mid-August 2010 a Chinese couple holidaying in the Maldives disappeared from their resort after they went for a swim.
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.
On March 14, police received a report that a Chinese national, Rui Dai, died while snorkelling at Holiday Inn Kandooma Resort, South Malé Atoll.
Earlier that same month another Chinese man died while snorkeling at Chaaya Lagoon Hakurahura Island Resort, less than a day after a German tourist died in a snorkeling accident at Embudu Village Island Resort.
A top UK transplant surgeon, Ali Bakran, also died in the water while snorkeling at the Adaaran Meedhupparu Resort in Raa Atoll last year.
Mohamed Ibrahim ‘Sim’ from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) last year stated that Chinese guests in particular needed to be made more aware of the dangers of snorkeling in the Maldives, “because it is a totally different environment than what they are used to.”
While UK tour operators passed on advice and information to tourists, China was a relatively new market “and the operators need to be made aware also,” Sim added.
“Few resorts have reception staff or guides who speak Mandarin.”
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hi, are you making predictions or is the 2011 mentioned twice in this article a mistake?
Corrected to 2010. -Minivan News
No life guard on duty? Or is there anything called a lifeguard in these resorts?
these kind of cases are due lack of attention towards to the customers.they do market the resort by saying "paradise"what a false.Its a real hell on earth. All the money they spend from their pocket to have dream holiday of life time.this is the way how it ends
last few years its very common to hear news like this.its really a shame to hear it.we never know when we would die.at any time the soul may leave the body.But if we have taken right action to minimize the death cases like this we can save those lives.
How many resorts are there in the Maldives???? do they have lifeguards on duty???? maybe two three resorts do have .What about the rest???? safety comes first!!!!! I personally call tourism ministry to take action and protect customers and have policies and procedures implemented to have lifeguards on each and every resort of Maldives. If every building is with fire extinguisher we need to have life guard on every beach!!!
I believe that the resort managements also should pay more attention to the tourists but I wonder how the management would guard all the beach areas, especially in bigger islands like Kuredu, Sun Island or Meeru.. Shouldnt the tourists themselves have some personal responsibility for their personal safety?
one important reason could be the high prices guests are charged for snorkelling gear etc from the dive shop in most resorts. Sometimes due to high cost of these items, guests take undue risks by attempting to snorkel alone whilst sometimes not fully able to swim. snorkelling around the island is free but the gear which could be expensive from the dive shop or the hire of a guide for an hour or two could easily offset a guest >100 dollars. it's also true that few if any resort employs guides on the beach but its should be an important consideration of any resort. just as the resort is considerate about the guest's privacy, or comfort or personal preferences, resort shall also be concerned for the guests safety.
Of course there is no life guard on resorts, who would pay them? People are allowed to go snorkelling on their own, MOST of the resorts do NOT inform their guests as to where to snorkel, where to cross the reef, where the channels are - they don't know anything about tides, currents, that corals are living animals.
SOME resorts send an untrained staff on excursions, and more and more have got marine biologists who take care of the snorkellers - but only the ones that book an excursion - everyone else can go at any time anywhere they want.
What a shame.
Unfortunately, a great deal a Chinese people simply don't know how to swim as it is not a part of their school curriculum as it is over here in Europe.
A good friend of mine was a dive instructor over in Thailand and he said that Chinese people would come to his dive school and neglect to mention that they had never swam before, which would cause a great deal of dangerous problems.
As a tourist in the Maldives, I have seen Chinese people get themselves into difficulty many times, even in shallow water, which is a real worry.
I don't think the resorts are to blame though, I think the chinese tour-operators must work very hard to communicate the dangers their customers face in the water.
Where is life guards services?
This a very concerning problem. I am very disheartened by the way the Tourism Authority has commented on this issue. As a country holding these tourist we should take full responsibility of these events. It may well be true that Chinese people are unaware of the dangers of our seas and may not be accustomed to environment like ours.Tourism authorities should fully investigate into the matter and do something about it to prevent future incidents like this. The least they could do would be have signs and posters close to the beach highlighting/ reminding ( preferbly in all languages spoken by tourist population in a given resort) to be cautious when in waters/swimming or any kind of water activity, If they notice lack of awareness among Chinese tourists than its imperative they be more careful and give special attention this group of Tourists. Better be safe then Sorry!
@"Sunny side of life"...If every building is with fire extinguisher we need to have life guard on every beach!!!
No, I disagree. Part of the beauty of the Maldives is that the sea is there to be enjoyed at our own risk, without an over protective lifeguard screaming at swimmers and snorkellers to be careful. Such a service would be totally impractical anyway. Sorry though I am at the recent series of deaths, all who go past the sheltered lagoon should be aware that they are in a wild environment, take simple precautions (like being able to swim!)and enjoy the unspoilt beauty! Reps for tour companies with Chinese tourists should get their acts together and give appropriate safety advice.
We have visited Maldives 5 times and mainly to snorkel. Swimmers/tourists must be aware of currents at various times of the day. Why don't the dive shops hire life vests with the snorkelling equipment to non-swimming visitors. When we go out into deep waters we wear life vests for safety.
I have visited the Maldives 16+ times. Whilst neither my husand or myself are 'strong' swimmers, we always wear a life jacket. We used to hire them, but now take our own. We check with the dive school re any areas we should not snorkel, and also check the current each day. Most resorts remind you NOT to snorkel alone - so people must take some personal responsibilty for their own safetly surely.