Updated On: 01 March, 2025 08:29 AM IST | Manila | Agencies
Four Russian tourists travelled to the waters off Verde Island with a Filipino dive instructor. The five were swept away by strong undercurrents.

Bodies of Russian tourists being recovered after the attack. Pic/AFP
Two Russian tourists died when they were swept away by strong undercurrents while scuba diving in waters south of Manila, with one believed to have drowned and the other attacked by sharks, a Philippine coast guard official said on Friday. Four Russian tourists travelled to the waters off Verde Island with a Filipino dive instructor. The five were swept away by strong undercurrents.
Two of the Russians surfaced with the dive instructor but the two other Russians, identified as Ilia Peregudin, 29, and Maksim Melekhov, 39, went missing. Melekhov was found unconscious and declared dead. The other Russian was attacked by sharks. He was pulled away but didn’t survive.