13 publishers · first seen Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:25 UTC · updated Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:51 UTC
Five people, including two children, were rescued after spending three months adrift in the Pacific Ocean. The group of nine had set off on July 30 for a one-hour boat journey between the islands of Murilo and Ruo in Indonesia. However, their vessel was caught in a storm, leading to them being blown far off course. The US Coast Guard, supported by the US Navy and Air Force, searched over 25,000 nautical miles before calling off the operation on August 9. On Sunday, villagers on Fanning Island in Kiribati spotted the boat drifting near their remote home, around 3,400 miles west of Ruo. Five of the nine people who had originally been on board were found alive. They have been named as Wanis Weita, Wboy Weita, Akinis David, Paul Paul and Tedwin Paul. What happened to the other four people remains unknown.
The five survivors have been taken in by the pastor of a local Uniting Church and received medical attention, according to local MP Kaotitaake Rakoroa.
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