Five individuals, including two children, were rescued this week in the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati, three months after they began drifting at sea in a 20-foot skiff. Authorities confirmed the rescue on Sunday, though four people from the group remain missing.
Villagers found the survivors off Fanning Island in Kiribati. The group had drifted approximately 5,400 kilometers (3,355 miles) east from the Federated States of Micronesia. The U.S. Coast Guard in Guam had reported the skiff with nine people aboard missing after it failed to return to Ruo Island in Micronesia on July 30. A 10-day search by the Coast Guard, covering 85,700 square kilometers (33,000 square miles), yielded no sign of the boat or its occupants.
The rescued survivors are currently being cared for by a pastor on Fanning Island. Nursing officers reported that all five were severely dehydrated and malnourished but were showing signs of recovery after receiving intravenous fluids. The survivors have requested privacy and have not yet spoken publicly about their ordeal.
Discussions are underway between Micronesia's Chuuk state and the Kiribati government regarding the return of the survivors. The nine individuals had embarked on what was supposed to be a one-hour journey between the islands of Murilo and Ruo when they encountered a storm that likely set them adrift.