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Snorkeling instructor drowns on Rota
A snorkeling instructor drowned at the Pinatang Dive Site on Rota Monday morning.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Travis Hurst said yesterday that the victim is a Japanese male and that they could not release his name until the next of kin is notified.
Hurst said a doctor at the Rota Health Center pronounced the victim dead at 11:30am.
Hurst said DPS dispatch notified a Rota DPS Boating Safety officer of a distressed diver in the waters outside the Pinatang Dive Site.
As the officer was readying to launch the Zodiac rescue boat in the West Marina, another boat that had recovered the victim already made it to the area with the DPS medics.
The victim was brought to Rota Health Clinic, where he was pronounced dead.
Preliminary investigation showed that the victim was out on a snorkeling trip at the Pinatang Dive Site west of Songsong Village.
The victim, who was a snorkeling instructor, was with three customers, along with a boat captain.
According to witnesses’ accounts, the three customers entered the water while the captain and the victim stayed aboard the boat.
After 20 to 30 minutes, the three customers returned to the boat. Five minutes later, the victim entered the water, followed by the customers.
After a few minutes, the customers alerted the captain that the victim was underwater and needed to be rescued. At this time, the captain called 911 for assistance.
After three minutes, the three customers pulled the victim into the boat and immediately started CPR, while the boat captain drove back to West Marina.
Upon arriving at West Marina, DPS medics arrived, applied CPR, and transported the victim to the Rota Health Clinic.
It was the second drowning incident in the CNMI this year.
In February, a 17-month-old boy drowned in the swimming pool of a house in Papago.
