COCOS ISLAND, Costa Rica — A 49-year-old Wall Street executive was killed by a tiger shark last week while diving with a group off the coast of Costa Rica, according to PEOPLE.
Rohina Bhandari died after suffering “strong lacerations” to both legs Thursday while diving near Cocos Island National Park. Bhandari was a senior director at WL Ross & Co. and Francescon in Manhattan.
“Rohina was kind, gentle and full of grace. She was also fun, we laughed a lot,” said Bhandari’s friend, Silvia Francescon. “I was devastated not only by her death but about how it happened.”
According to the Washington Post, the group’s diving guide, identified only as Jimenez, noticed the shark approaching and tried to scare it away. Jimenez was also bitten during the attack but survived.
Bhandari’s friend Jon Benjamin took to Facebook on Saturday to pay tribute after her “untimely” death.
“Desperately sad to hear of the tragic and untimely passing this week of my dear friend Rohina Bhandari,” Benjamin wrote. “Always generous and gregarious, she was a mainstay of my social life in NYC a decade ago, visited us in Chile and so kindly lent us her apartment in NYC in July this year, also hosting a party for us. One of a kind. I feel her loss intensely. RIP sweet Rohina.”