Australia Rescues Indonesian Fishermen From Desert Island After Cyclone

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian authorities mentioned on Wednesday they’d rescued 11 Indonesian fishermen from a desert island within the Indian Ocean after their vessel shipwrecked throughout a strong cyclone, stranding them there for six days with out meals and water.

Eight fishermen are nonetheless lacking, the Australian Maritime Security Authority (AMSA) mentioned.

The survivors have been rescued on Monday evening from Bedwell Island, about 313 km (195 miles) west off the coast of the city of Broome in Western Australia state.

A border safety plane noticed them throughout a surveillance mission following cyclone Ilsa, which smashed into Australia’s northwest as a class 5 storm final week, setting new wind pace information.

They have been then moved to Broome and given crucial medical care, an AMSA spokesperson mentioned in a press release.

The fishermen knowledgeable authorities that two vessels had been caught within the cyclone, one with 10 crew and the opposite with 9. The ship with 10 crew washed ashore at Bedwell Island however the second vessel sank in dangerous climate, AMSA mentioned.

One individual from the lacking vessel spent 30 hours within the water earlier than additionally being washed ashore at Bedwell Island, a small sandy cay throughout the Clarke Reef coral atoll.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Modifying by Michael Perry)

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