29 Mar 2006

Three Indonesians rescued after drifting off PNG

7:48 pm on 29 March 2006

Three Indonesians have been found alive and well after drifting in Papua New Guinea waters for two weeks.

The men had been fishing off Jayapura when they capsized and lost their motor, eventually causing them to drift more than 300 kilometres away.

The fishermen were found off Wuvulu Island on Monday.

The Manus Provincial Administrator, Wep Kanawi, says they were in remarkably good shape considering the recent bad weather in the area.

"They lost everything and so they survived on fish and things that they caught while they were adrift and it's a miracle that they survived for so long because they had been subjected to the elements and they had nothing on them when they finally landed on the shores of Wuvulu Island."

It's the second rescue of drifters this week after two people who went missing in Solomon Islands waters in January were rescued in Vanuatu.