Ilya and Sophia Tsaruk snorkeling drowning deaths on Maui island may have been caused by full face masks with inexperienced couple possibly struggling to breathe and exhale as past studies show potential dangers.
A group who traveled with a Snohomish, Washington state couple who drowned while snorkeling Hawaii’s Maui island over the weekend believe the type of snorkel masks the group were using may have led to the untimely drowning deaths of Ilya and Sophia Tsaruk.
On what was suppose to be dream holiday celebrating the recent purchase of a new home in anticipation of the couple’s second baby (they already had an 18 baby girl, going by Logan), Ilya, 25, and Sophia, 26, Tsaruk ran into troubles during the first day of their snorkeling trip.
Sophia Tsaruk, 26, was 30 weeks pregnant when she swam in the ‘calm waters’ off Ahihi-Kinau on Saturday morning.
‘We thought we were good. What could possibly happen?’
Moments later, she and her husband, Ilya, 25, were being pulled out by first responders who battled to save their lives before they were declared dead on the shore.
‘The water was calm, there no, like, out of the ordinary weather conditions or anything like that,’ Ilya’s sister, Taisiya Tsaruk, who accompanied them on the trip to Maui, told KITV.
‘We thought we were good. What could possibly happen?’
Tiasiya joined them with her husband, Anatoliy, and another couple, and all six headed for the beach on the west of the island for the first full day of their vacation.
Sophia, 26, was not a strong swimmer and mentioned feeling slightly ill as they donned full face snorkel masks and waded into the unguarded waters.
The group split up to explore the sea-bed before another swimmer approached Tiasiya and told her he had heard screaming in the water.
‘A loss of breath…’
First responders were called at 12:02pm and a responder a jet ski found Sophia floating unconscious in the water before bringing her to shore.
Emergency crews then headed back out to search for Ilya, who had disappeared from view before divers found him on the sea bed more than 100 yards from the beach.
An onlooker filmed the rescuers frantic attempts to resuscitate the couple as their horrified relatives looked on.
Taisiya believes the snorkel masks the couple were wearing may have played a part in their deaths.
‘When we were in the water I experienced a loss of breath like I could not breath,’ she told KITV.
‘I felt like the mask was just suffocating me and I had to rip my mask off to breathe.
‘They both drowned, but she did have her mask on, which is, I don’t know.
‘I do believe that it played a role. Because, like I said, I experienced a loss of breath in the mask and we were wearing the same masks.’
Potential dangers of full faced snorkeling masks
Not immediately clear is whether the snorkeling masks were rented or purchased along with the make and design.
Social media in Hawaii has lit up with comments from locals warning of the dangers snorkel masks pose to inexperienced users when exhaled air is not properly expelled.
‘There have been multiple drownings due to these masks,’ wrote Kristina Lopez-Mata. ‘They need to ban them, it’s an ongoing issue here.
‘Anyone that lives here knows not to use them.’
The scuba masks can create carbon dioxide buildup, which could cause people to lose consciousness, according to a January 2018 KTVU report which at the time explored a recent spate of snorkelers dying while out in the water.
Speaking with a merchandiser of the masks, Mark Stanley, owner of the Bamboo Dive Centers told the outlet that beginners are more likely to have trouble with breathing.
‘If you dive down, take a big breath, and then go down, the ball comes up and prevents any water from going inside the mask,’ Stanley said at the time.
The tragedy remains under investigation, and Anatoliy said he is not convinced that the masks proved fatal.
‘We don’t think that she suffocated in the mask,’ the relative told KITV.
‘It might’ve just played a role in scaring her to panic. Everything is just speculation at this point.’
The tragedy has left eighteen-month-old Logan an orphan with the infant girl staying with an aunt and uncle. A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the child and to bring his parents back home as of Wednesday afternoon had raised $122,400.
