Tourist couple from Philippines drowns near Dhiffushi

A tourist couple from the Philippines drowned Sunday morning while swimming near the Dhiffushi island in Kaafu atoll.

The 29-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were pronounced dead on arrival at the Dhiffushi hospital. Arrangements were being made to transport the bodies back to the Philippines, police said.

The tourists, who were staying at a guesthouse on Dhiffushi island, were swimming in a shallow lagoon with a deep end between Dhiffushi and the nearby Meeru Fenfushi, according to media reports.

Dhiffushi islanders who spotted the couple in distress reportedly tried to save them from drowning.

It was the first drowning of a tourist on Dhiffushi, which was among the first islands to open guesthouses after local tourism was introduced in 2010.