Divers deployed off Koh Tao to find missing Russian tourist

SURAT THANI, March 7 (TNA) -- Police on Koh Tao of Koh Pha-ngan district of Surat Thani, had deployed 15 local divers to search for the Russian woman who has been missing on the tourist island for 22 days. The search started today at the Ao Chaloke bay where they wished to find a clue linked with the tourist. Police said Valentina Novozhenova, 23, loved free diving and they were combing through routes on Koh Tao to dive sites. The woman had posted messages discussing with friends dive sites suitable for free diving off Koh Tao, police said. The divers assumed that the woman who has gone missing since Feb 15 might dive at Ao Chaloke Ban because it is near her accommodation. Pol Lt Col Chokechai Sutthimek, the superintendent of the Koh Tao police station, said police were checking surveillance camera footages to try to locate the Russian woman and also examining her travel behaviours on her way from Bangkok to Koh Tao, Surat Thani province. As the woman had gone missing since Feb 15, he said, it was difficult to find her. He added that there were many undersea rocks at Ao Chaloke and an accident was possible. (TNA)