Missing Taiwanese woman tourist feared dead

EL NIDO, Palawan—Authorities looking for a missing Taiwanese tourist believed to have drowned while swimming at a public beach here have given up hope of finding the victim alive and have switched their efforts from rescue to “search and recovery.”

Municipal information officer Joel Gomez told the Inquirer they were now concentrating their search on areas where the victim, identified as Yen-Ting Chang, 43, might have been carried off by the currents.

Police and local village officials in Bucana said the victim was trying to cross a small channel to reach a rocky protrusion off the beach while snorkeling with a companion, also a Taiwanese tourist, when she disappeared last Tuesday afternoon.

“It was a clear day and the sea was actually calm at that time. The victim’s companion said she was trying to swim off to the islet,” Gomez said.

“After two days of futile search and rescue, the police are now trying to locate the victim in areas where the tide might have carried her,” he said.