Christmas holiday tragedy as Brit drowns while diving at ‘Devil’s Point’ off paradise island
A British holidaymaker drowned during a diving trip off the coast of Mauritius on Christmas Eve, local media reported.
The 77-year-old man lost his life near a peninsula known as ‘Devil’s Point’ on the island’s east coast.
The man, who has not been named, reportedly took part in a catamaran diving tour with other holidaymakers on December 24.
He and several other tourists went into the water around 11:45 a.m. to snorkel reportswith all members of the tour except him returning to the boat around 12:10 p.m.
The group was preparing to leave the area when the boat’s skipper and crew noticed the man was missing.
They alerted the police and the coast guard, who immediately launched a search.
After searching the area for over an hour, authorities found the man’s body about 50 yards from the boat.
The man was pulled from the water and given first aid, but he could not be saved.
The 77-year-old man lost his life near a peninsula known as ‘Devil’s Point’ on the island’s east coast
He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was taken to a nearby hospital mortuary, where an autopsy was conducted to confirm the cause of death.
The police medical examiner determined he had drowned and his body was subsequently returned to his family for repatriation, Mauritian media reported.
It is the latest in a series of tragedies involving British tourists in the popular holiday destination this year.
In April, a 55-year-old Briton drowned during his first dive into the sea after arriving on the island.
The man, who was reportedly staying at the Henessy Park Hotel in Ebène on the west coast, went to the nearby Flic en Flac lagoon for a swim and got into trouble in the water, local media reported at the time.
The man was reportedly pulled from the water by a Frenchman on a boat, but attempts to revive him failed and he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The sea was reportedly rough and there were heavy waves when the man drowned, with at least three others also dying that day.
A month earlier, a British father tragically lost his life while trying to save his 15-year-old son during a massive storm.
The 49-year-old man had entered the water to help his teenage son, who was swept out to sea by large waves in the Pomponette Lagoon on the island’s south coast, according to local media reports.
But during the rescue effort the man himself ran into trouble and by the time lifeguards reached the 15-year-old boy shortly after 10.15am on March 23, his father had disappeared beneath the waves.
While his son was successfully rescued, the search for the man continued for several days and was eventually called off.
The man, his partner and his son had arrived in Mauritius on Friday, March 22, and were due to leave about a week later, just before Easter Sunday, on March 30.