Tourist missing in Grotto waters

A huge wave swallowed up a male tourist who was taking a picture of his friends on the rocks of Grotto in Marpi on Saturday afternoon—the eve of Supertyphoon Chaba

Police said yesterday that the man’s body has not been recovered.

The wave also hit three other tourists but they were pushed inward, enabling them to hold on and reach the Grotto stairs safely.

“We have not found the person that’s missing. The others had been rescued,” said Public Safety commissioner Ed Camacho yesterday.

“The water was already rough when they went there that day. They went down not to swim but to just have a picture,” said Camacho.

The victim was identified as Jiang Lin, a 38-year old Chinese male.

Public Safety acting spokesman and Boating Safety Division chief Capt. Pete Muna said that, according to one of the tourists, Weiman Fan, they arrived at Grotto about 12:30pm Saturday.

They proceeded down the stairs to tour the dive site. Upon reaching the bottom area, they each posed for a picture.

Muna said that Weimen, who remained on the stairs, testified that Lin was the one holding a digital camera to take a picture of the group that included his [Lin’s] wife.

“Mr. Fan said he was monitoring the wave condition and noticed a large wave approaching them and started shouting to warn his companions. He said the large wave, which washed over the victim’s entire body, pushed Jiang forward. He got dragged under and was never seen again,” said Muna.

Lin’s wife managed to run and hold onto the railing of the stairs while another held onto a nearby rock.

Three others, Muna said, got pushed by the wave inward and they were saved by the others pulling them toward the stair area. Weimen managed to bring all of them to the top by the parking lot area where he called for assistance, according to Muna.

Muna said some of the tourists sustained scratches and refused medical assistance.

One of them had an injury on the forehead and chin that required hospital care.

Police search and rescue unit from DPS Fire division had responded but it had to cancel a cliffline search due to strong winds and poor visibility.

Muna said that due to typhoon conditions, the water in the dive site was very dangerous “with large waves and swells” reaching the stairs and surrounding area.

“It’s too dangerous even to conduct a search for the victim in the water,” he said.

But he noted that the DPS team searched the nearby shoreline area at Bird Island and at the Look Out but there was no sighting of the missing person.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Naval Forces Marianas reported yesterday that its team had rescued six tugboat crewmembers off Saipan waters Tuesday morning.

In a statement, the Naval Force said that Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 5 launched a search and rescue operations after receiving a call from the Coast Guard about a vessel in distress on Saipan.

The rescue team found a 40-foot tugboat partially submerged and waterlogged.

Upon seeing the helicopter, the crewmembers reportedly jumped from the vessel into the water where they were successfully rescued.

“The victims were hoisted up one at a time. There were no injuries, except for minor exposure. All six were transported to the hospital on Saipan,” said the Naval Force.

The rescue team was headed by Lt. Todd Pike, helicopter commander; Lt. Sean Ahearne, co-pilot; Chief Richard Deal, crew chief; SAR swimmers Chief Mike Smith and Petty Officer 2nd class Nelson Trevallion; and SAR corpsman Petty Officer 1st class Brad Kufalk.

The team launched the operations at 10am and finished it by 11am.