Man drowns off Hidden Beach

A man has drowned off the coast of Hidden Beach yesterday, marking the CNMI’s first drowning incident of the year.

Twenty-two-year-old Traven Quitugua reportedly drowned while spearfishing with a companion. He was pronounced dead at the Commonwealth Health Center.

First responders immediately launched a search-and-rescue operation yesterday soon after receiving a report of the incident. Joining yesterday’s search were the Department of Public Safety, Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Although first responders managed to locate and rescue Quitugua, he was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at CHC after being rushed there.

According to statement from DPS and DFEMS, dispatch received a call yesterday at around 8:55am about a drowning incident at Hidden Beach along Route 36 in Talafofo.

At approximately 9:04am, officers arrived at the beach and learned that two men had gone out spearfishing when one of them, Quitugua, had drowned and was still underwater.

DFEMS arrived shortly after, with other first responders arriving at the scene at around 9:09am.

Officers learned from the victim’s fishing male companion, Anthony King, that they had both decided to go fishing that morning. At approximately 8am, both men arrived at Hidden Beach and proceeded into the water to spearfish.

King told police that, after about 30-45 minutes, he surfaced and noticed that Quitugua’s speargun was floating, but he was nowhere in sight. The witness proceeded to free dive back down in the water and saw the victim’s body on the sea floor.

King told police that he attempted to retrieve the victim and pull him out of the water, but the waves were too strong. That’s when he proceeded to swim to shore and called for help.

Responding DFEMS and DPS personnel immediately took to nearby cliff lines for an aerial view of the ocean. At approximately 9:18am, the DPS boat was launched out of Smiling Cove to respond to the incident. Upon arriving at the scene, three Boating Safety divers jumped into the waters and did an underwater search for Quitugua.

At around 10:33am, during a pattern search, the U.S. Coast Guard HSC 25 helicopter and DPS boat were able to locate and recover the unresponsive Quitugua from the water and he was immediately transported to Smiling Cove and brought to CHC, where he was pronounced dead shortly after.