A 15-year-old boy, Derek Parker Agnaanga, was rescued off the coast of Alaska after drifting for days in the Bering Sea on a capsized boat, the Associated Press reported.
Agnaanga, his 35-year-old brother Sidney Kulowiyi and their cousin had set out on September 4 to fish for halibut. They were expected back on the morning of September 6. When they failed to return, their family contacted the Coast Guard for help.
Search crews spotted the surviving teenager from the air on September 7. He was alone, clinging to an overturned boat. Crews dropped him a life raft and supplies before a nearby fishing vessel picked him up. Agnaanga later said he had lost two brothers at sea.
How the boat capsized
According to the teenager, their boat flipped over while they were out on the water. Kulowiyi ended up trapped underneath the hull, while Agnaanga and their cousin stayed on top of it. The pair planned to hold on to the capsized boat until help arrived, but on the night of September 6, the cousin slipped off into the water and sank.
Agnaanga spent two days in water that was about 10 degrees Celsius before he was found. The crew that rescued him warmed him with heating pads and blankets. The bodies of his brother and cousin were later recovered from the water.
Bering Sea rescues
The Bering Sea separates Alaska from Russia's far east and is known for cold water, strong currents and unpredictable weather, all of which make survival difficult for anyone stranded at sea for long. Halibut fishing is common in the region, and the US Coast Guard regularly carries out search and rescue operations for boats that fail to return on schedule.
A separate incident reported earlier involved a 50-year-old Frenchman and his two sons, who spent more than 16 hours in the ocean after their jet ski capsized near an island coast. When they were found, they were exhausted and had swallowed seawater.
