8 Missing Divers Rescued 8潛水客 全部獲救

View of the Pacific Ocean from the beach at Chialuoshui, in Southern Taiwan. The missing divers were rescued further along the coast here. Photo by Bruce Stewart.

Although the English newspapers this morning said that the 8 divers who had been missing off the southernmost tip of Taiwan for 30 hours had still not been found (which was causing me to lose hope), the Chinese press early this morning reported that they had been found and rescued in the early hours of this morning.


After staying together holding hands in groups of four, one of the stronger male swimmers decided to swim towards the shore (Taiwan is pretty mountainous), leaving the others after midday and swimming and drifting until well after dark. Upon reaching land he was able to alert authorities and based on the information he provided the search and rescue helicopters were able to locate and rescue all the others. Apparently they are all well. So that is a really good piece of news, especially considering one of the two women had children in the local international school and therefore many people I know would know her.


The Chinese report is as follows:


8潛水客 全部獲救
更新日期:2008/04/28 04:09 (Source: Independence Morning Post)

記者蔡宗憲、黃明堂、陳賢義、王秀亭、蘇永耀綜合報導〕失蹤30餘小時的墾丁8潛客，昨夜有1人獲救，至今晨2點救援直升機另吊起王順平與郭俊賢2人，另5人直升機已目擊，定位依序待救。
屏東縣墾丁七星岩海域26日發生8名潛水客及船員失蹤意外，經過一天半的等待，昨夜11時30分，教練丁柏齡首先在台東縣太麻里鄉新香蘭海域自行游上岸，海巡、消防單位根據丁柏齡描述，在台東、蘭嶼海域間持續搜尋另7人下落。
丁柏齡上岸後意識清醒，被送往台東馬偕醫院觀察。據了解，8人失去聯繫後，以4人為一組，手牽手，以最省力的方式在海上仰漂等待救援，其中丁柏齡、李素玲、王順平及杜庭彰為一組，郭俊賢、劉慧君、王智育及洪郁盛等人一組。
教練獨泅10小時 上岸求救
昨天下午1時許，丁柏齡先行脫隊，奮力踢水10小時，幾已筋疲力盡，終於游至新香蘭海域岸邊，他隨即報案，至於其他7人仍在台東、蘭嶼間海域攜手仰漂，暫無生命危險，海巡亦動員持續搜救中。
王智育家屬獲悉他仍健在十分欣慰，碰巧昨天是他生日，家屬今晨買了個大蛋糕，漏夜趕車帶到台東馬偕幫他慶生。
墾丁8名潛水客在七星岩海域失蹤，海巡署與民間救難協會昨日在七星岩到台東方向海域持續進行海空大搜索，部分家屬甚至一早就租船筏出海，也集體下跪向神明祈求，希望能及早發現他們的下落。
行政院發言人謝志偉昨日表示，行政院長張俊雄下令相關單位全力搜救，並呼籲國人從事相關活動應注意自身安全。
昨晚恆春海巡隊特別為家屬舉行說明會，家屬強烈要求能到七星岩海域投擲礦泉水及乾糧，海巡船艦也立刻出發前往，希望能為失蹤者保住一線生機。
郭俊賢的64歲父親落淚表示，兒子只要得到飲水及糧食，在海上漂流應該沒問題，希望他能盡快獲救。
前晚上岸的潛客傅雅巖、謝銘原與失蹤潛客洪郁盛、劉慧君的親友，昨早雇用船筏出海協尋。
經30多個小時的等待，家屬紛紛到負責指揮搜救的海巡署恆春十四海巡隊探問搜救情形，也有廟宇乩童起乩表示，人在七星岩南部偏東海域，甚至傳出神明指示人往南方海域漂去的消息。海巡署高雄、屏東、台東隊部也加派巡護艦一、二號，以及6艘巡防艦艇及呼叫附近漁船協助搜尋，由七星岩往蘭嶼、綠島作地毯式搜索，空勤隊也出動4架直升機在整個台灣南部海域搜索。