BY COOPER GEGAN
A French father and his two sons have been rescued after being lost at sea for 16 hours. What began as a holiday jaunt became a protracted rescue when the trio’s Jet Ski overturned and left them adrift.
The incident took place in Koh Samui, a resort island in the Gulf of Thailand, on Thursday. The 50-year-old and his two sons, aged five and seven, had rented a Jet Ski from a local operator. When the family failed to return on time, the operator notified local authorities, who began a search.
The trio was eventually located at 10 a.m. on Friday. As seen in footage shared by the Koh Samui district office, the Jet Ski was almost completely submerged, with one of the boys sitting on top. “We found them exhausted after swallowing a lot of seawater,” local government official Amorn Chomchoey told AFP. “They were pale, especially the boys.”
Investigators are still looking into what caused the incident, but the father told authorities that the Jet Ski capsized after operating just over 15 minutes, even though he characterized himself as an experienced operator. Despite the ordeal, officials said that the family decided to stay in Thailand and continue their trip.
This article first appeared on The Inertia.
