Drowning victims were Japanese
The Department of Public Safety said yesterday that the two women who drowned at the Grotto on Saturday were Japanese scuba divers.
DPS spokesman Eric David did not disclose the identities of the two victims pending notification of their next of kin, but added that one of them was a 25-year-old dive instructor. He said the other scuba diver was also 25 years old.
David said the police had received a call Saturday afternoon reporting the drowning incident and asking for assistance.
Boating Safety and other police personnel responded to the Grotto, a popular diving site on Saipan, and found divers conducting cardiopulmonary resuscitation on one of the victims. They failed to revive the woman’s breathing.
At that time, the female dive instructor was still missing, police said.
Boating Safety personnel and other emergency responders conducted a search of the victim, but failed to find her until the operation was temporarily halted at about 5am Sunday.
At about 6:30am Sunday, police received a call from the Emergency Management Office, which informed the DPS that a boat had found the victim. The boat, Zero, was headed to the Smiling Cove Marina.
David said the woman was brought to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. He said both died from drowning.
The incident happened as Saipan was experiencing heavy rainfall from swells brought on by the passage of supertyphoon Haitang near the Marianas region.
