fact check Aisha Roberts
Fact check:

- Aisha was one of 20 passengers going on a boat trip on 14.02.2017, around 1 pm with a local captain on a long tail. she and a female friend arrived to the island that morning.
- the excursion normally includes fishing, snorkeling, swimming, bbq, sunset on different locations on the island of koh rong - NO diving.
- Aisha was not intoxicated in any way - no alcohol no drugs - nor was she the night before.
- the location where Aisha went missing is a dive site with strong undercurrents during this time of year. it is at the southern tip of koh rong. the surface was a bit choppy but no big waves.
- the local captain of said boat trip left his customers unsupervised and was having lunch on a fishing boat they were moored to.
- of the 20 passengers, only 14 went into the water. Aisha was one of the last ones in the water.
- due to the strong current, most of the snorkelers drifted off 50 to 100 meters in just a short time. swimming back to the boat was not easy, even very fit swimmers had to put in a lot of effort to come back. no one was wearing a life jacket, no one was wearing scuba fins.
- close to 3 pm the two british friends were the last to come back to the boat. her friend was climbing up the stairs at the bow and looked back. she saw Aisha close to the stern, but only her hand was raised out of the water. she immediately alerted the passengers on the boat that she went under. 5 to 7 people, including her friend, went back into the water to search for her. they could not find her.
- passengers urged the captain to call the police or anyone who could help them search. he seemed reluctant to make a call.
- the dive boat of koh rong dive center was nearby and they flagged them down for help. the dive boat ended their last dive and had no full tanks left on board.
- the boat returned to the village of koh touch and the passengers made arrangements with koh rong dive center and koh rong emergency services to continue the search. they sent out one dive boat with instructors and dive masters and at least 5 long-tails from different local captains of the village to search for aisha until sunset.
- they searched the area where she went missing and followed the current in a zigzag pattern until it got dark.
- due to bad visibility and light conditions they did not manage to find her.
- the mainland was contacted immediately for help. the authorities said the community could search and rescue but were not sending anyone over to help.
- also the local police did not help in any way to search for aisha; their speedboat didn't leave the dry dock at all.
- the rest of the day until 9 pm were filled with writing police reports and witness statements.
- the next morning koh rong emergency services and koh rong dive center resumed the search. the sea condition was very rough and delayed the mission with a few hours
- around 1 pm on the 15th of february they found aisha's remains. contrary to what has been written down already, she was not floating around. she was wedged between the rocks close to the place where she submerged almost 24 hours before.
- the forensic police examined her and stated that drowning was the cause of her demise.
- family of both women were already on their way to cambodia before they found aisha.
- her remains were brought to sihanoukville and were immediately transported to the morgue in phnom penh.

dear readers,

the community of koh rong would really appreciate it if you would write down the facts instead of any hear say. aisha was not floating around the waters of koh rong, she submerged, drowned and was embedded between the boulders under the water surface.
we, all parties involved are very distraught and sad to lose such a young woman and despite our efforts were not able to retrieve her alive. our sincere and deepest sympathies go out to her parents, family and friends

Thanks for taking the time to write the fact check twotigersshv. From what you've written, it appears that the authorities were lazy and unhelpful to say the least. All very tragic and traumatic for everyone involved.

Can I just take the opportunity to remind visitors to Cambodia that a lot of boat trips and water activities are not supervised, and there are no checks or licences for the companies or individuals who run them. (Diving excepted.) So, be careful. An accident can happen in a second.

Sincere condolences to Aisha's family and friends.

twotigersshv wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:36 pm fact check Aisha Roberts
Fact check:


- the location where Aisha went missing is a dive site with strong undercurrents during this time of year. it is at the southern tip of koh rong. the surface was a bit choppy but no big waves.
- the local captain of said boat trip left his customers unsupervised and was having lunch on a fishing boat they were moored to.

- due to the strong current, most of the snorkelers drifted off 50 to 100 meters in just a short time. swimming back to the boat was not easy, even very fit swimmers had to put in a lot of effort to come back. no one was wearing a life jacket, no one was wearing scuba fins.

Omg how awful. RIP Aisha and deepest condolences to her family.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The water is always dangerous. Many people tourists drown off Queensland on properly supervised excursions. Older people often have health issues that are exacerbated by stress and exertion.

twotigersshv wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:36 pm
dear readers,

the community of koh rong would really appreciate it if you would write down the facts instead of any hear say. aisha was not floating around the waters of koh rong, she submerged, drowned and was embedded between the boulders under the water surface.

who here had mentioned that she was floating around?

RIP

no one mentioned this here, Jamie_Lambo.

this text was also used to retract the article from the phnom penh post and helps to end the speculation in general.

stay safe!

Seasquatch wrote: ↑Wed Feb 15, 2017 7:40 pm Shame, alcohol and swimming do not mix.

i understand where this remark comes from, but is highly inappropriate in this particular case.

twotigers, gotta ask - why were they left unsupervised? It definitely IS a treacherous place. We used to regularly anchor there on XCat and the customers snorkeled and swam for an hour or so. ALL staff were on watch and the dory was ALWAYS in the water "rounding them up" as such. EVERY customer was given a life jacket, some refused, but within 2 or 3 strokes we knew if they could swim or not and they were made to come back onboard and either don a vest or they were not allowed back in the water. What went wrong? Shit happens, but it sounds like here it shouldn't have. How come no one has named the company responsible?
RIP to Aisha and condolences to her family.

Hotdigr, it is not up to me to nail this local captain for his negligence - which it was, and makes her death even more tragic - but awaiting the police or the family to press charges. i haven't been back to KR yet but i guess the community will take him out of business by warning all his potential customers.