A fisherman from south China's Guangdong Province has been rescued near Hainan after surviving six days floating out
at sea.
Du Chengji was rescued on Tuesday and is now being treated at
the People's Hospital of Wenchang City, in Hainan. His condition is
described as stable.
According to the doctors, Du was severely malnourished and
dehydrated as he had been floating on the sea for such a long
time.
On Jan. 3, Du and another fisherman boarded a light boat
attached to their fishing vessel, YUEDIANBAI-31339, to go
fishing.
However the light boat capsized in an ensuing storm and the two
men fell over board. They managed to use a trailing rope to tie
themselves to the upturned boat but in the early morning of Jan. 7,
Du's companion, overcome with exhaustion, slipped into a coma and
drowned.
Du clung on and in the early hours of Tuesday morning he drifted
towards a passing fishing boat and was able to drag himself aboard
by grasping a fishing net.
The fishing boat's owner, Wang Peng, said, "Du's survival was
partly due to his strong will to live, and because he is physically
strong."
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)