(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles police have reported in a press statement the death of a Japanese woman on the morning of Saturday May 3, when she drowned while snorkelling near Curieuse island, a nature reserve next to Praslin island, the second largest island of the Seychelles archipelago.

65 year old Michiyo Ohara was working as a medical officer at the Indian Ocean Tuna canning factory on the main island of Mahe and had visited Praslin with a 66 year old female friend who was holidaying in the Seychelles, says the police.

"Ohara was snorkelling near Curieuse. At one point Ohara's friend, who was sitting on the beach[of the island], saw that she had difficulty swimming, so she jumped in the water and brought her back to the beach. Ohara was not moving, and with the assistance of the officers of the Seychelles Marine Parks Authority she was transported to Praslin," reads the statement.

Ohara was taken to Baie Sainte Anne hospital, where her death was certified.

An autopsy will be conducted.

Correction- May 6-  Ohara did not work for IOT, according to statement from the company to the Seychelles Nation newspaper. The police received this information from her friend.