Tourist found dead in jaws of shark with arm ripped off as another diver drowns after being swept away...

TWO tourists have died, with one discovered in the jaws of a shark, after being swept away by strong undercurrents while scuba diving.

The horror incident happened during a group dive south of Manila, in the Philippines, on Thursday.

Four Russian men aged 18 to 57 set off in a boat with a Filipino dive instructor off Verde Island in the afternoon.

But disaster soon struck after the tourists and their dive master were separated by a deadly current.

Some of the group were able to come to the surface and safely return to the boat.

But two others - Ilia Peregudin, 29, and Maksim Melekhov, 39 - were tragically discovered dead by rescuers hours later, the coastguard said.

One of the men was found unconscious in the water and rushed to hospital, where he was declared dead by doctors.

The other was found in the jaws of a shark.

Captain Airland Lapitan of the Philippine coastguard said: "The other one was found at about 4-5.30pm and retrieved around 5-6pm.

"When the rescuers found him, he was being pulled by a shark.

"He was eventually retrieved but his arm was missing."

As the bodies were turned over to family members without an autopsy, it's unclear if the man had been killed by the shark or was already dead when the beast found his body, Capt Lapitan said.

Shark attacks in and around the Philippines' waters are very rare, with none recorded in at least a year, according to a global database.

An investigation is currently underway, and the coastguard is to meet provincial officials for talks on how to prevent such deadly incidents at Verde Island, along with other dive spots.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, a man is thought to have been dragged overboard by a great white shark during a fishing competition.

Dad Paul Barning was taking party in the interclub fishing competition off the coast of Port Stephens when he dramatically fell overboard.

It's understood by Australian media that he was tangled in the wire trace - the safety link between the hook and the mainline used when catching fish with sharp teeth.

Paul was then pulled off the boat into Port Stephens waters - where terrifying great white sharks have recently been seen.

Another fisherman had reportedly hooked a shark at the time of the horror incident, and Paul was a support person for the catch, 7News reports.

Paul was pulled into the water when the other fisherman let go of the line, before getting dragged under by 10 metres, the broadcaster reports.