Brit tourist missing in Philippines after leaving hotel with only flippers and snorkel
Mark Davis Morris, 44, disappeared while on holiday in the Philippines with his wife. The Brit reportedly told a friend he was going diving alone but police are investigating this
A British tourist has gone missing while on holiday after reportedly leaving a hotel with just his snorkel and flippers, on Tuesday afternoon.
A desperate rescue mission has been launched after Mark Davis Morris, 44, is believed to have gone for a swim alone while on a freediving trip in the Philippines. Mr Morris reportedly set off from his holiday rental apartment in Negros Oriental, a region of the Philippines known for its natural beauty, but his worried wife Emily Tan, 42, filed a police report on Wednesday morning after he failed to return. Ms Tan, a Singapore resident, said her husband left, while she was asleep that day, and told a friend he had gone diving alone.
Mr Morris is believed to have vanished on the waters at the Lalao Beach, where search and rescue teams have set up a command centre to spearhead the mission to find him. Crews riding rubber boats were seen scouring the waters by Dauin town and nearby seaside villages.
Despite this, the mystery depends as authorities added that they were also instigating whether Mr Morris had actually gone diving, as beachgoers at the time claimed they did not seen the Brit plunge into the water.
Three dives have also been conducted by both local and foreign professionals but there has been no sign of the missing Brit so far. Lieutenant Marionne Abigail Enopia, commander of the Coast Guard Negros Oriental station, said: "Our Coast Guard (CG) personnel in Dauin and Zamboanguita, together with the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (DRRMO), conducted a search early Wednesday after receiving reports of the missing person."
This has not been the only tragic case of a Brit who has unexpectedly gone missing while on holiday. 26-year-old Alexandra Clarke disappeared after a fire ripped through a wooden dive boat she was on in Thailand, last month.
Clarke, from Lambeth, had been backpacking at the time but disaster struck after she was reportedly using a toilet on the doomed boat when the blaze ignited.
The fire started from the engine of the wooden vessel near Koh Tao and police believe the boat's fuel tank overflowed with it was refilled during the journey, causing the inferno to spark.
The captain and crew of the vessel have since been charged with negligence. Although she was missing authorities fears the Londoner could be dead.
Meanwhile human remains were discovered after a shark is believed to have attacked a diver in Israel on April 21. A huge search mission was launched after a man disappeared in the water at Olga Beach in Hadera.
The Fire and Rescue Authority confirmed on April 22 that a body, believed to be that of the 40-year-old man, had been recovered. Beachgoers had reported seeing fins circling in the water in the hours before the incident.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
29 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Brit tourist missing in Brazil after suddenly vanishing from his AirBnb – leaving belongings and passport behind
Denis' friend says his disappearance is out of character WHERE'S DENIS? Brit tourist missing in Brazil after suddenly vanishing from his AirBnb – leaving belongings and passport behind A BRIT tourist has disappeared in Brazil with his passport and belongings left untouched at his AirBnb. Denis Kopanev, 33, who works as a financial analyst in London, was last spotted on CCTV leaving the rental on Monday. 4 Denis Kopanev, 33, has disappeared while travelling in Brazil Credit: Jam Press 4 His loved ones have not heard from him since Monday Credit: Jam Press 4 His last known location was very close to his AirBnb Credit: Jam Press Denis, who is Russian with British citizenship, was staying at the trendy neighbourhood of Gávea in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's capital city. He was supposed to travel to São Paulo the following day to meet an American friend. The pair had planned to visit Fernando de Noronha - a volcanic archipelago about 215 miles off Brazil's northeastern coast. But Denis' family and friends have not heard from him since Monday. The last location shown on his phone is the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon - close to his AirBnb in Rio. He never checked out of the property and his passport and belongings were found in the room. His disappearance was registered at the local police station on Wednesday. Denis' best friend Benone Moura said the analyst loves Brazil and visits the country often - his last visit being six months ago. Benone considers his disappearance to be out of character. He said his friend, with whom he last spoke on Sunday, never travelled without letting loved ones know beforehand. Is THIS the moment that saved the sole Brit survivor? Vid shows debris fly from Air India jet…is it door he fled from? His family has been in contact with the British Embassy. A report has been filed, but the family are yet to receive any news. Denis' disappearance is being investigated by the Rio de Janeiro Whereabouts Discovery Unit (DDPA). He was last seen on CCTV wearing a beige jacket and trousers, a dark baseball cap and a white shirt. It comes as Brit tourist Ashton Jones, 29, was found in a hospital undergoing emergency brain surgery after vanishing on a night out in the Thai capital of Bangkok. Doctors there believe Ashton, who suffers from epilepsy, was attacked. Ashton's family in Cwmbran, Wales, were "worried sick" when they learnt the news. His cousin Sophie told The Sun: "It's heartbreaking because we're all really close. "We're shocked and going out of our minds because we don't know what's going on.
Scottish Sun
29 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
From souvenir stamps to different surnames: Five ways your passport could stop you boarding your flight
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MILLIONS of Brits will be heading abroad in the next few months to make the most of the summer holidays. However, thousands of families are also being caught out by a number of strict rules in place, which has seen them banned from their flight. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Stamps in your passport are just one of the ways you could be breaking the rules - and be banned from boarding your flight Credit: Getty Most of the confusion comes down to not knowing all of the passport rules in place. So we have explained the five ways that people are being forced to miss their holidays, all because they made a mistake with their passport. Fake souvenir stamps Some holiday destinations offer a souvenir in the form of a novelty stamp. Places such as Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Japan, Machu Picchu and Ciudad Mitad del Mundo in Ecuador (where the equator runs through) are just some of the places offering the fake stamps. Even in the UK, the Welsh village Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which has the world's longest place name offers them. However, don't be tempted to put the stamps in your actual passport, and instead ask for them on a piece of paper instead. One woman said she was stopped from entering Thailand after getting a stamp in Machu Picchu. Another was banned from her flight to the US because of a Hello Kitty stamp in Taiwan. Someone person on Reddit said they struggled to get a visa for India because of a novelty stamp, while another said they were banned from entering Malaysia for similar reasons. While some places might not might the stamps, it is best not to risk putting them in your passport. Brit yoga teacher stranded in Thailand & barred from return flight over 'tiny' passport problem…would YOU have noticed? 5 Novelty stamps are a huge risk to have in your passport Credit: Alamy Different surnames to your kids If you are going on holiday with any kids that don't share your last name, you could run into problems at the border. Strict anti-trafficking rules mean that border staff are required to ask for any documents that prove they are related to you, or you have permission to take them out of the country. For example, if they are your children but you do not share their surname, you will need something like a marriage certificate alongside your passport. Mum Eddi Fiegel was nearly banned from boarding their Eurostar home with their daughter from Disneyland Paris, as she was not married to her partner - so had a different surname to her. And a family missed their Christmas holiday to South Africa because their son had a different name to the mum, and the dad wasn't travelling with them. An alternative option is a consent letter, sharing permission from their legal guardian although this may not be accepted in all countries. Any minor damage (depending on country) When it comes to damaged passports, the UK government cite the following as damage: you cannot read any of your details any pages are ripped, cut or missing holes, cuts or rips in the cover cover coming away stains on the pages (for example, ink or water damage) Any passport that falls under these rules will need to be replaced. However, some countries have much stricter rules when it comes to what a damaged passport is. Indonesia is known for having some of the world's most restrictive rules with a number of travellers banned from travelling to Bali. One man said there was a "minuscule tear on the photo page, barely visible to the naked eye" while another person was told it was "too dirty" to be allowed. Any tiny tears or spills on a passport is likely to get you banned from a holiday to Bali. Vietnam is also just as strict, with the UK Foreign Office warning: "Your passport must have no damage. "British nationals have been denied entry and exit due to passport damage." 5 Bali (pictured) along with Vietnam have some of the strictest rules Credit: Alamy Incorrect expiry date One of the most common mistakes thousands of Brits are still making is having the correct expiry date on their passports. Pre-Brexit rules allowed UK passports to have a validity of 10 years and nine months (rolling over unused months from the previous passport). This is no longer allowed, so any extra months are no longer seen as valid. This is only affecting Brits with a burgundy passport, as the new navy passports only have a 10-year validity. If you have a different start date to an expiry date, you might run into trouble, so make sure to add 10 years to your start date to find your correct expiry. You will also need a few extra months on it depending which country you are travelling to. 5 Make sure you have enough empty blank pages to leave room for entry and exit stamps Credit: Alamy Not enough blank pages If you are a frequent traveller, you might find your passport is getting a bit full. But most countries require at least one page to be fully blank, to leave space for an entry and exit stamp. For Europe, every country requires one full page, while countries including Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Netherlands and Portugal require two pages. One person on Reddit said they were told to get a new passport as they only had "three [blank] pages scattered about," while another said they had to get an emergency passport in Bangkok after needing a full blank page to go to Laos. One of the strictest is South Africa, which requires three blank pages. Standard passports have 34 pages, so you might want to pay extra for a 54-page passport if you plan on travelling a lot. Or you can try the sneaky trick, where passengers put a blank post it note on a page so border officers don't use it to stamp.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Brit tourist goes missing after leaving Airbnb as friend spots worrying sign
While on holiday in Brazil, Denis Kopanev walked out of the Airbnb he was staying in and disappeared without a trace, with his family and friends desperately waiting to hear from him A British man has mysteriously disappeared while on holiday in Brazil. Denis Kopanev, 33, was staying in the Gávea neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro before he vanished. On 9 June, he was captured by CCTV leaving his Airbnb and his friends and family have not heard from him since. As he left he was wearing a dark-coloured baseball cap, a white shirt, and a matching beige jacket and trousers. He never checked out of the holiday let, and all of his possessions were still inside - including his passport. The day after he vanished, he was supposed to meet a friend hailing from America in São Paulo - and the pair were set to continue their adventure together, heading to a volcanic archipelago - Fernando de Noronha - which is around 215 miles off Brazil's north-eastern coast. He had the location services for his phone turned on, and it last marked him down as being at Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon - nearby to where he was staying, but it has not provided a more up-to-date location. Denis, a Russian-British citizen who works as a financial analyst in London, was in Brazil just six months before, so his quick return to the country likely shows just how much he loves it there. Two days after his friends and family lost touch with the 33-year-old, he was officially reported missing to the police. His best friend, Benone Moura, insists that his disappearance and going off-grid is seriously unusual, saying that when Denis travelled he always stayed in touch with his loved ones - and he wouldn't have moved on from Rio without looping them in to his movements. Benone revealed that the pair last spoke in the early evening of 8 June, the day before Denis vanished. The financial analyst's family have reported his disappearance to the British Embassy, but heartbreakingly, there has been no news yet about where he is. Rio de Janeiro Whereabouts Discovery Unit (DDPA) are investigating Daniel's disappearance. Denis isn't the first Brit to go missing in Brazil in recent months. Journalist Charlotte Alice Peet, 32, was missing for four months, before she was found in a São Paulo hostel, when it was reported that she had admitted that she didn't want to be in contact with her family, and the case was then closed by the local authorities. She is said to have told a pal she was in São Paulo on 8 February, and planning to go to Rio de Janeiro, before her family stopped hearing from her, and quickly reported her missing. She was reportedly located by authorities using data from her phone.
