Bodies of 2 Korean divers found

BATANGAS CITY, Philippines—A Philippine Coast Guard-led search team has found the bodies of two South Korean expert divers who were reported missing since Tuesday after going on a dive in the waters off Barangay Mapating in Maricaban Island, Batangas.

The bodies of Kim Jun Ho, 45, and Bae Jiun, 34, both tourists and known to be technical divers, were located in the waters off Tingloy Island, also in Maricaban, but their bodies have yet to be retrieved, said Supt. Rajo Opelania, Batangas Maritime police chief.

Their bodies were located about 180 feet under the sea and divers from the PCG station in Mabini were retrieving them, said a Coast Guard personnel, who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak on the search operation mounted by the PCG.

As technical divers, the two had undergone training that would have enabled them to dive to depths of 170 feet to 350 feet.

The retrieval operation started at around 1 p.m. on Friday and ended at 3:37 p.m. because the Coast Guard ran out of oxygen, said the source.

The two Koreans arrived in the country last week and were guests of Dive 7000 Resort located in Barangay Bagalangit, Mabini town, when they went for a recreational dive off Maricaban Island, Opelania said.

He said Kim and Bae went diving along with two other Korean nationals and a master diver from the resort.