Teen Rescued After Days on Capsized Alaska Boat; Two Die
A 15-year-old Alaska boy survived nearly three days clinging to the hull of an overturned fishing skiff in the frigid Bering Sea before being rescued near St. Lawrence Island. He had departed Savoonga with his 35-year-old brother and a cousin on a halibut-fishing trip, but the boat capsized after a fishing line became tangled in its motor. The brother was trapped beneath the skiff, while the cousin later slipped or entered the water and drowned, according to family members and rescuers. A Coast Guard aircraft spotted the teenager, who was showing signs of hypothermia, and guided the fishing vessel Northwest Explorer to him using flares after dropping survival equipment. The vessel’s crew pulled him aboard, warmed him and transported him to Nome, while authorities recovered the bodies of the other two men.
