A British tourist drowned during a diving trip off Mauritius on Christmas Eve, local media reported.
The 77-year-old man lost his life near a peninsula known as ‘Devil’s Point’ on the island’s east coast.
The man, whose name has not been identified, was allegedly participating in a catamaran diving excursion with other tourists on December 24.
He and several other tourists entered the water to snorkel around 11:45 a.m., according to informationand all tour members except him returned to the ship around 12.10 p.m.
The group was preparing to leave the area when the ship’s captain and crew noticed that the man had disappeared.
They alerted the police and the coast guard, who immediately launched a search operation.
After more than an hour searching the area, authorities located the man’s body about 50 meters from the boat.
The man was pulled from the water and first aid was administered, but he could not be saved.
The 77-year-old man lost his life near a peninsula known as ‘Punta del Diablo’ on the east coast of the island.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was taken to a nearby hospital morgue, where an autopsy was performed to confirm the cause of death.
The police medical examiner determined that he had drowned and his body was later returned to his family for repatriation, Mauritius media report.
It is the latest in a series of tragedies involving British tourists in the popular holiday destination this year.
In April, a 55-year-old Briton drowned during his first swim in the sea after arriving on the island.
The man, who was reportedly staying at the Henessy Park hotel in Ebène on the west coast, He went to the nearby Flic en Flac lagoon to take a dip and had difficulty in the water, local media reported at the time.
A French national on a boat reportedly pulled the man from the water, but efforts to resuscitate him failed and he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The sea was reportedly rough and there were strong waves when the man drowned, and at least three other people also lost their lives that day.
A month earlier, a British father tragically lost his life while trying to save his 15-year-old son during a major storm.
The 49-year-old man had entered the water to help his teenage son, who was swept out to sea by large waves in Pomponette Lagoon, on the island’s southern coast, according to local media.
But during the rescue, the man ran into difficulty and by the time lifeguards reached the 15-year-old boy, shortly after 10.15am on March 23, his father had disappeared under the waves.
While his son was successfully rescued, the search for the man lasted several days and he was eventually abandoned.
The man, his partner and their son had arrived in Mauritius on Friday, March 22 and were due to leave approximately a week later, just before Easter Sunday, March 30.