SIX adults and an unconscious baby were rescued yesterday from a life raft in the Pacific Ocean after drifting for four days in the blazing sun without water.
The survivors had scrambled onto the small wooden dinghy after the ferry they were aboard sank.
New Zealand Defence Force air commodore Darryn Webb said the crew on a military Orion plane had used radar to locate the dinghy while searching for survivors.
He said the ferry had been carrying at least 50 people while travelling between two islands in Kiribati.
Webb said there had been no sign of any other survivors. He said it was not yet clear what caused the ferry to sink.
The plane dropped supplies to the survivors including food, water and a radio, Webb said. The survivors used the radio to tell rescuers they had managed to get off the ferry when it capsized and climb aboard the dinghy.
Webb said the survivors had little time to react and found themselves adrift without water or an engine. He said they did have a blanket or tarpaulin which they may have been able to use to get relief from the sun.
Webb said a fishing boat had changed its course and picked up the survivors today. The dinghy was drifting more than 112 miles from the nearest island when it was found.
“Our heart goes out to the baby and to all those remaining of the 50-plus people,” he said.
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