6 Taiwanese sailors rescued

Six Taiwanese sailors missing at sea for six days were rescued after a Hong Kong helicopter spotted them in an improvised life raft, the Coast Guard said yesterday.

The sailors went missing last Friday after their vessel, F/V Hai Chun Tsai, caught fire off Currimao in Ilocos Norte.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Cipriano Nillo said the crewmen were in stable condition at the Don Mariano Marcos Hospital in Batac, also in Ilocos Norte, after they were plucked from waters the other day by a passing tanker.

The Coast Guard identified the survivors as captain Chen Jih Tung and crewmen Shia Horng Hwa, Juang I Jeng, Yeh Ming Jinn, Chern Chuan Cyan and Chen Cheng Fang.

Boats and helicopters from Hong Kong and Taiwan joined the rescue. — Jose Aravilla