5 Scuba Divers Alive After 3 Days at Sea

2 Japanese divers still missing
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2014 3:30 PM CST
5 Scuba Divers Alive After 3 Days at Sea
Indonesian volunteers carry one of the Japanese divers who was rescued.   (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Rescuers in Indonesia continue to search for two Japanese scuba divers missing since Friday, buoyed by the remarkable rescue of the other five members of the diving group today. Fishing boats spotted the five women clinging to a coral reef off the coast of Bali, reports AFP. They had drifted about 12 miles in stormy weather from where they originally went in the water. All are expected to survive. It's a dangerous area in which to dive, but all seven in the group had plenty of experience, reports the Guardian.

It's still not clear what happened. The skipper of their boat said he dropped the divers off in the water and followed them for about 20 minutes on Friday before a sudden downpour made it hard to see. He told authorities that he then went to a predesignated spot where they were to surface, but the divers never turned up. A rescue official says authorities are investigating reports that the captain ran out of fuel after dropping off the divers and had to make a pit stop before returning. (More scuba diver stories.)

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