Mangaluru-origin US tourist killed by tiger shark while diving in Costa Rica

coastaldigest.com web desk
December 3, 2017

Mangaluru, Dec 3: In a tragic incident, an Indian-origin American woman was mauled to death by a tiger shark while she was scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean off an island in the Republic of Costa Rica recently.

The deceased has been identified as Rohina Bhandari (49), a private equity director from New York City. She hailed from India’s Mangaluru city. She is the granddaughter of I G Balakrishna Shetty, and sister of Mangaluru based physician, Dr Nitin Bhandari.

Thought the incident occurred last Thursday, the news was reported by the New York Daily News lateSaturday. The attack also badly injured the 26-year-old male Costa Rican diving guide leading the group that included Bhandari.

The shark savaged the two as they were surfacing after a dive off Cocos Island, a pristine national park located 300 miles off the Costa Rican mainland, the environment ministry said in a statement.

Bhandari was said to have sustained fatal bite marks on both of her legs.  The news agency stressed the attack was 'an isolated incident' and the first one of such seriousness recorded for the island.

According to the Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion, the guide noticed the shark approaching his group underwater and tried to scare it away.

But as they surfaced, the shark went for the American woman, tearing at her legs. The guide, too, suffered leg injuries.

Park rangers came to assist, as did doctors who happened to be diving in the area and who declared the woman dead. The injured guide was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition and conscious. He said he believed the shark was a female.

Death sends shockwaves

Bhandari, a resident of Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York was a senior director at WL Ross & Co. LL, a firm founded by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

She was also frequently spotted at charity events throughout the city.  Her death was met with shock and sadness by her friends on Facebook.

“Unbelievably sad and heartbreaking news that Rohina has died,” wrote Julie Walker. “She was such a wonderful person who loved life. I will always remember her kindness, friendship and our adventures together.”

“Your kindness and genuine warmth to those of us lucky enough to call you "friend" was a blessing to behold,” another friend wrote.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 10,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 10: With concerns growing by the day, the Karnataka government is readying three more labs to test throat swab samples.

Currently, only two labs in Bengaluru — National Institute of Virology and Virus Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (VRDL) lab attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute — are categorised biosafety level 2+, a requirement for coronavirus tests.

Now, the government is working on upgrading three more labs, one each in the government medical colleges at Hassan, Mysuru and Shivamogga. “The labs will be ready within one week,” the authorities said.

Currently, the labs are testing only throat swab samples of suspected patients and taking 24 hours to give the results. “A patient’s blood sample will be collected only if he or she tests positive for covid-19 infection in the first throat swab sample.

While earlier the state would send all samples of suspected coronavirus cases to NIV, Pune, the two labs were upgraded to biosafety level 2+ in mid-February.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 19,2020

Mumbai, May 19: Even as banks in United Arab Emirates are trying to trace NMC founder BR Shetty, a prominent bank in India is seeking to recover loans worth Rs19.13 billion from him and his companies. 

A local court has also barred him and his wife from selling or transferring some properties while it hears the case.

In the court filing, the Bank of Baroda said Shetty had an obligation to handover the title deeds of the 16 properties and mortgage the assets with the bank.

The 16 properties in several Indian cities including Bengaluru were among guarantees put up by Shetty and his wife against the Rs19.13 billion ($253 million) loans, according to a May 16 court order seen by Reuters. The court in Bengalaru set the next hearing in the case for June 8.

NMC, the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE, was placed under administration in April after months of turmoil. It disclosed in March it had debts of $6.6 billion, well above earlier estimates of $2.1 billion.

Finablr, in which Shetty has a controlling stake, said in April it may have nearly $1 billion more in debt than previously reported.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 21,2020

Chikkamgaluru, Feb 21: Wazi Noronha, aka, Vojald, the father of Amulya Leona Noronha, who lives in Koppa taluk of Chickmagalur district has said that he was shocked by his daughter’s pro-Pakistan slogans.

“Let her rot in jail. I don’t mind if police break her bones, I don’t support what she said and I will not approach lawyers for her bail. She has committed a grave mistake,” he said.

Amulya, a 19-year-old student activist, was booked for sedition yesterday after she raised ‘Long Live Pakistan’ slogans at a CAA-NRC rally. A visibly embarrassed Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM chief and MP tried to snatch the mic away from her and slammed her. Karnataka Police have registered a case under IPC Section 124A (Offence of sedition) against Amulya.

Mr. Wazi, who owns a two-acre areca plantation and runs a poultry farm, said he would not make any attempts to get her bail. “Let the law take its course. I cannot approve of her statement,” he said.

He said he had cautioned his daughter against getting involved in protests. “I told her to complete studies first and later she could fight for poor people. But what she said yesterday is not acceptable. I don’t know what made her so. I hope a probe would bring out who prompted her to make such statements,” he said.

Mr. Wazi also admitted that he was associated with BJP and had worked for saffronite leaders like Shobha Karandlaje and D N Jeevaraj.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.