A Filipino national has died after strong currents on Seminyak’s popular Petitenget Beach swept him out to sea on Friday evening. Talking on Saturday, the head of the Badung Tourism Office, I Made Badra, explained that two holidaymakers had gotten caught up in the waves, but sadly one—identified as 33-year old Ronald Ryan Magno by Kompas—could not be saved.
Magno had reportedly arrived at the stretch of beach in front of La Lucciola restaurant at about 4pm. He was joined by an Indonesian national identified only as ‘Anih,’ and fellow Filipinos Ralph Jason Dacuyan, 33, and 47-year old Rey Camacho, who almost drowned alongside Magno, according to a report by local-language media Tribun Bali.
Rescuers from the Indonesian Surf Life Saving Association (Balawisata) managed to recover both men from the water, but sadly, it was all too late for Magno.
A regional tourism agency head told Kompas that members of the rescue team reported Camacho’s breath reeking of alcohol and that they suspect that Magno had also been drinking before getting into the water.
The victim’s body was immediately taken to Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar for examination. Police haven’t yet announced if or when the body will be sent back to the Philippines.
Sadly, drownings are not uncommon here in Bali. Late last year, a 13-year old middle school student underestimated the strength of the currents and was carried away on a remote west coast beach, and in 2018, a Spanish man tragically lost his life saving his wife and children from drowning off Bali’s neighboring island of Nusa Ceningan.
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