Source : Perth Now news
Two children are among five people rescued after three months drifting at sea in a 20-foot skiff.
The US Coast Guard in Guam confirmed on Tuesday the vessel had set off from Ruo Island in the Federated States of Micronesia with nine people aboard and had been reported missing after failing to return on July 30.
A 10-day search covering 85,700 sq km followed without any sign of the missing boat or those aboard, it said.
Villagers rescued the group on Sunday off Fanning Island in Kiribati, an estimated 5400km east of Micronesia.
“Incredible and wonderful news these five folks were found and are receiving care,” the US Coast Guard told The Associated Press.
“Our profound condolences to family and friends of those who did not arrive with them.”
The newswire service asked what happened to the missing four but did not get an immediate reply.
A lawmaker in Kiribati, Kaotitaake Rakoroa, told the ABC the survivors were being cared for by a pastor on the island.
Nursing officer Paukin Tororo told the broadcaster all five arrived severely dehydrated and malnourished, but were recovering after being put on intravenous drips.
“They can give a smile face, they show the sign they want to eat,” she told the ABC.
The survivors were yet to speak publicly about their ordeal and had requested privacy, the broadcaster reported.
“We continue to pray for their four companions,” the governor of Micronesia’s Chuuk state, Alexander Narruhn, said in a statement.
The ABC reported the nine had been making a one-hour crossing between the islands of Murilo and Ruo when they were caught in a storm.
