Cop chief: Japanese, who died after whale watching in Oslob, has a history of heart disease

Philippine Coast Guard personnel perform CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) on the Japanese national, who got in trouble while snorkeling in Barangay Tanawan, Oslob town in southern Cebu on January 2, 2020. | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Japanese national, who died after a whale watching activity in Barangay Tanawan, Oslob town in southern Cebu, has a history of heart disease.

Police Captain Jade Sumugat, Oslob Police Station chief, said that this was what Hitomi Kuriyama, wife of the Marinubo Kuriyama and who is in Japan, told the travel agency that Marinubo booked for his Cebu trip.

The travel agency told Sumugat that Marinubo Kuriyama was a tourist from Gifu City, Japan and had just arrived a day before his death in Cebu on January 1, 2020.

“Kuriyama (Marinubo) did not disclose to the travel agency that he had a history of heart disease and claimed that he was healthy and fit for the snorkeling activity during the trip to Oslob,” said Sumugat in Cebuano in a phone interview with CDN Digital.

Read more: Japanese national drowns in Oslob

Earlier reports showed that Kuriyama complained about having breathing problems after the snorkeling during a whale watching activity. A boat guide claimed that blood later came out of the Japanese’s mouth and nose.

He was rushed to the shore, given cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and then to the Oslob District Hospital for treatment. However, the attending physician, Dr. Jennalyn Bigno, declared the Japanese dead on arrival.

Read more: Coast Guard says Japanese man didn’t die of drowning in Oslob

Sumugat said that Dr. Bigno described the cause of death of the Japanese as asphyxiation, which is a deprivation of oxygen that could lead to unconsciousness and death.

He said that Kuriyama, might have experienced dizziness when he went underwater and panicked, which led him to run out of oxygen.

“Mao na nga nagstruggle, nawad-an og hangin, naka-inom tubig,” said Sumugat.

(He may have struggled, ran out of oxygen and caused him to have drunk seawater.)

The Oslob Police Station has also asked the travel agency to relay to the family of the dead Japanese that an autopsy on his body would be needed to make sure that there was no foul play in his death.

But the family declined the request because no one from Japan could come to the country for the autopsy.

Sumugat said that the travel agency took over the responsibility to send body of the Japanese back to Japan.

Kuriyama’s body is at the Rolling Hills Funeral Parlor in Barangay Banilad, Mandaue City while his papers were being processed for his trip back home./dbs