Emergencies
Shipwrecked people discovered on small Pacific island
“Remarkable testimony to their will to be found”: “Help” written with palm fronds on sand. photo
© US Coast Guard/dpa
What to do if you’re stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific? Three castaways spelled out a cry for help with palm fronds. Her ingenuity was her salvation.
A palm frond lettering on the beach put helpers on their trail: The US Coast Guard rescued three shipwrecked people who had been stranded on a deserted island for more than a week were stranded in the Pacific.
The men, aged around 40, went fishing in a boat on Easter Sunday – but did not return. Relatives reported her missing, the US Coast Guard began their search and eventually discovered palm fronds on the beach on Pikelot Island, part of Micronesia. The men had thus spelled the word “Help” (German: Hilfe).
The US Coast Guard spoke of a “remarkable testimony of their will to be found.” The ingenuity was crucial to the rescue workers finding the shipwrecked people and being able to save them on Tuesday (local time). The helpers had previously dropped a radio over the island to communicate with the men. The US broadcaster CNN reported a surprise during the rescue: one of the rescuers turned out to be a distant relative of the shipwrecked people.
The small island of Pikelot made headlines around the world almost four years ago. Thanks to a huge SOS call for help painted in the sand, three missing sailors were found.