TEMPO.CO, Mataram - Joint search and rescue team found dead a tourist at a depth of 21 meters in the waters of Gili Trawangan, North Lombok, on Monday, February 20, 2023, after the tourists was reported missing since Sunday.

Mataram SAR Agency head Lalu Wahyu Efendi said that the diver was a 49-year-old United States citizen who went missing on Sunday, February 19, 2023. "He was] found on the second day of the search at 08:08 WITA [central Indonesian time] at 0.93 Nautical Mile north of the location [the diving area]," Wahyu said.

The victim who was first discovered by divers from the Dream Dive community was evacuated to the Bangsal Pemenang Harbor and handed over to the medical team. The victim was found with complete diving equipment still attached to his body.

"The medical team brought the victim to the Bhayangkara Hospital," said Wahyu.

According to the guide from Dream Dive Center who dived along with the victim, they went diving on Sunday, around 14.30 WITA, at Shark Point in the north of Gili Trawangan. The foreigner was separated from the group at a depth of approximately 15 meters when the guide accompanied other divers to see the coral reefs.

The victim was known to move toward the surface of the water. The guide then immediately sent a sign that a diver climbed to the surface and carried out a search by looking up and down and circling the area 360 degrees according to the safety dive protocol.

At that time, the guide encountered limited visibility. The victim was not found until the guide and all divers decided to stop diving and conducted a search from above the surface of the water around the dive area. However, the effort came to no avail.

The case was then reported to related parties and a joint search was launched involving the rescue team from the Bangsal Alert Unit Post, Indonesian Navy, Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) Water Police, North Lombok Regional Police, local communities, and other elements.

SUPRIYANTHO KHAFID

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