Taiwanese man survives 60 hours drifting at sea

A Taiwanese man who cannot swim has survived 60 hours drifting in rough open ocean without food or water by clinging to a coffin lid.

Tseng Lien-fa was fishing for baby eels on a beach in Hualien county, on the east coast, when he was washed out to sea by a large wave on Friday, United Daily News reports.

The 42-year-old spotted a floating length of wood, which happened to be the lid of a coffin, and clung onto it, local media reported.

It is not known exactly why the lid was floating in the ocean but it served as Mr Tseng’s lifeboat until early Sunday morning.

“On the lid, I was drifting and drifting… during that period I hoped I could be picked up by any ships passing by,” Mr Tseng told United Daily News.

The fisherman wound up drifting 75km to a beach in the southeaster country of Taitung where coastguards found him lying on Sunday.

Having spent more than two days clinging to a coffin lid and being battered by waves, doctors said the fisherman was suffering dehydration and sores on his arms from seawater immersion.

“Considering the fact that he had not taken in any food or water while drifting at sea for 60 hours and he remained conscious, all I could say is that this was a miracle,” said Chen Tien-su, a doctor from Hualien Hospital.

Mr Tseng had reportedly been catching eels to make extra money for his pregnant fiancée but has now promised her he will stick to pursuits on dry land.

Author: Alys Francis. Approving editor: Matthew Henry.
Source: United Daily News, CTS CH 12.