FANNING ISLAND, Kiribati (Diya TV) — Villagers on Fanning Island rescued five people, including two boys, from a 20-foot skiff Sunday after it drifted about 5,400 kilometers (3,355 miles) across the Pacific. The three adults and two children had been missing for nearly three months. Four others who set out with them remain unaccounted for.
The group left Murilo Island on July 30 for what should have been a one-hour crossing to Ruo Island in the Federated States of Micronesia. A storm caught the skiff in the Hall Islands, according to regional reporting. It never reached Ruo. Coast Guard watchstanders in Guam received notice the next morning that the boat had failed to return.
The Coast Guard coordinated a 10-day search with Micronesian authorities and U.S. military partners. The operation covered about 25,000 square nautical miles and included more than 31 search patterns. Coast Guard and Air Force C-130 aircraft, Navy P-8 aircraft, a Coast Guard cutter, a Micronesian patrol vessel and two commercial ships joined the effort. Authorities suspended the search on Aug. 9 without finding the boat.
Villagers found the skiff more than two months later off Fanning Island, a remote atoll in Kiribati’s Line Islands. Medical staff treated the survivors for severe dehydration and malnutrition and placed them on intravenous fluids. Nursing officer Paukin Tororo said they showed signs of recovery. A local Uniting Church pastor also took them in.
The survivors have not spoken publicly about the ordeal and have asked for privacy. Authorities have not released an account of how the skiff drifted or how the five managed to survive. They also have not said what happened to the four missing passengers.
Chuuk State Gov. Alexander Narruhn said he had asked Micronesia’s president to begin talks with Kiribati about bringing the survivors home. A Kiribati lawmaker said local medical officials had treated them and recommended that they travel to Kiritimati, the nearest urban center, for further care. Officials have not announced a transfer or return date.
