A BRIT tourist has gone missing in the Philippines, causing rescue teams to scramble.
Mark Davis Morris, 44, disappeared while on a freediving trip off the coast of Negros Oriental on Tuesday afternoon.
He is believed to have been swept away by strong currents.
The tourist’s wife, Emily Tan, filed a report with the police on Wednesday morning, April 23.
She rushed to cops after her partner failed to return home the previous evening.
The 42-year-old Singapore resident said her husband told a friend he would go freediving alone.
She added that he had taken his scuba gear and left her alone in their apartment while she was sleeping.
Search and rescue teams have now set up a command centre at the Lala-o’s Beach Resort where Morris vanished.
Lieutenant Marionne Abigail Enopia, commander of the Coast Guard Negros Oriental station, said that their team worked with the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office to conduct a search.
They said the search was conducted “early on Wednesday after receiving reports of the missing person”.
Rescue teams riding rubber boats were on Thursday scouring the waters of Dauin town and neighbouring seaside villages.
Pictures showed rescue mission workers and donning diving gear before entering the water.
But they have not yet found any sign of the missing Brit.
Three dives have also been conducted by both local and foreign divers.
Authorities said they were investigating if Mark had gone diving, as beachgoers claimed they did not see him plunge into the water.
Negros Oriental is a popular holiday location with various diving hotspots, visited by tourists and locals alike.
The province is located in the Negros Island Region, and its capital is the city of Dumaguete.
It comes after a Brit holidaymaker was reported missing after a fire broke out on a tourist boat off the coast of Thailand’s notorious “Death Island”.
Backpacker Alexandra Clarke, 26, was reportedly using the toilet when a blaze erupted from the engine of the wooden vessel near Koh Tao in March.
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