2 tourists, including an Australian, found dead in Philippines’ world-famous Boracay island

The Philippines' best-known holiday island Boracay recently reopened to tourists following COVID lockdowns.

Police found the lifeless body of the two inside their hotel room on March 21

Two tourists were found dead in the world-famous Boracay island, Philippine police said Tuesday (March 22, 2022).

The lifeless body of the two visitors — including an Australian national — were found on Monday (March 21, 2022) inside their hotel room, according to police in Aklan province, in central Philippines, which has jurisdiction over Boracay.

The tourists reportedly bore injury marks, according to local media, citing the Malay, Aklan police district. Initial investigations found the marks in the tourists’ bodies, suggesting their deaths were not due to natural causes.

The male visitor was identified as a Filipino national, based on his identification card, while the female bore an Australian passport.

Lt. Col. Don Dicksie De Dios, Malay police chief, said they are still waiting for an autopsy report to establish the cause of the couple’s death.

Citing CCTV footage and other security records, police said there were no signs a third person had entered the room.

“Their belongings, including cash, jewellery, laptop computers, and cellphones are intact,” De Dios was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as saying on Tuesday.

Police said the bodies of the couple were found near each other on the floor inside their room at a hotel in Barangay Balabag around noon on Monday. The report did not mention the hotel's name. Police said their investigation is still ongoing and declined to give further details.

They two arrived on the island on March 13 and had apparently extended their stay and were supposed to check out on Monday, according to De Dios.