5 European Divers Missing in Indonesia

[Sarah]

KUPANG, Indonesia (AFP) — Five scuba divers from Britain, France and Sweden have been missing for more than a day in seas off remote islands in Indonesia after being swept away in a current, police said Friday.

The divers -- two British women and a British man, a Swedish woman and a French man -- disappeared Thursday in the treacherous waters of the Komodo National Park in the Nusa Tenggara islands east of Bali, police said.

"A rescue team from the Indonesian police and navy conducted a search this morning for the five missing foreigners but there has been no result so far," Manggarai Barat district police chief Butje Hello said.

missing diver.jpg
missing diver-middle in black dress

The husband of one of the missing British women told AFP the search was being hampered by a lack of fuel for aircraft.

"We've got a big search operation happening here but we're having trouble getting aircraft to fly because of fuel problems," said dive master Ernest Lewandowski.

"Time is critical. It's absolutely blistering hot out there," he said, his voice breaking with emotion.

Lewandowski said he and his wife Kathleen Mitchinson, who together own a dive shop on the nearby island of Flores, had been leading two separate groups of tourists on the dive.

He only noticed his wife's group was missing when his group surfaced an hour after they entered the water.

"There were three boats out today searching. I was on a speedboat going around all the beaches and everything to see if they had washed up," he said.

A search on Thursday night was called off at 3:00 am and resumed at dawn. "It's a new moon so it's very dark out there," he said.

The Komodo National Park is a popular diving destination which is well known for spectacular coral and fishlife as well as strong currents.

A lack of resources and harsh conditions meant rescuers were struggling to cover the large and sparsely populated area.

They had been offered the use of a helicopter from Kupang on Timor island but had not been able to use it because of a lack of fuel.

A commercial passenger flight headed to Labuanbajo on Saturday had promised to circle for one hour over the area where the divers went missing, but this was not enough time to make an effective search.

The Komodo National Park, which is famed for rocky and dry islands housing the giant lizard of the same name, includes waters filled with unpredictable currents and whirlpools.

Strong currents in the waters of the national park mean the divers could be carried tens of kilometres (miles) away in a matter of hours.

The Reefseekers Diving business owned by Lewandowski and Mitchinson, who are both long-time residents of Flores island, is one of only a handful of diving operators in the national park.

In London the Foreign Office said it was aware of the situation.

"We are providing the appropriate consular assistance, including liaison with the local authorities in the search," a spokeswoman said.

original story


note: The reference to the Indonesian Reefseekers has NOTHING to do with Ken Kurtis of ReefSeekers in Beverly Hills, California. They are completely separate, unrelated entities.

[shinek]

Did some searching but couldn't find anything beyond the "Divers missing" report. If I see anything new I will, of course, post it.

Its a little worrying that they don't have enough fuel for the helicopter to take part in the search. They had a commercial plane leaving the airport circle for an hour to look for them. Not sure what plane or what altitude they would have been circling, but I'd hate to have to rely on that to spot me in the ocean somewhere. Sounds like they are doing everything they can think of, just limited on resources.

Hopefully this will turn out OK and they'll be found, keep fingers crossed, work the beads or talk to the appropriate supreme being, anything that may help.

[rubber chicken]

According to latest reports, they have been found alive and well after 48 hrs adrift. Picked up by a local fishing boat apparently.

[Sarah]

Five Europeans who did not return from a diving trip in Indonesia Thursday were found alive Saturday morning, a search official said.

The group was found at Mantaolan, which is on the island of Rinca off Komodo National Park, the head of the rescue team said.

"The police patrol spotted them waving their hands from a beach on Rinca island. They were safe and sound, but were a bit hungry," said Viktor Jemadu, a senior police officer in the Manggarai Barat area,

The husband of one of the divers said he was told they were in good condition, although dehydrated.

"I'm just so relieved," said Mats Kohler, whose wife is Helena Neva Lainen. They are both from Sweden.

An official said they were being taken to a hospital for examination.

Searchers using boats located the missing divers at 11 a.m. Saturday (11 p.m. ET Friday), the official said.

They arrived at a hospital in Labuan Bajo, on the western tip of the island of Flores, about two hours later, an official said.

They were one of two groups of divers who entered the water off Komodo National Park Thursday and were supposed to be gone for an hour, said an employee of the dive company, Reef Seekers. The second group came back after the hour passed but the first group failed to resurface, she said.

Earlier, an official with the Komodo Divers Association said the group that returned comprised six snorkelers.

The missing included one British man and four women -- two from Great Britain, one from France and one from Sweden. Among those who went missing was one of the owners of the dive company, Kathleen Mitchinson, the employee said.

The seas that the divers were in are known to be dangerous because of their strong tides, and that's one theory being investigated in the divers' disappearance, the employee said.

The three other divers were identified as James Manning of Britain, Elena Neralairen of Sweden, and Lauren Pinel of France.

The above text is a combination of various news feeds, including CNN, Reuters, AP, etc.

[hbh2oguard]

well that's a great ending which has seemed to be more common lately. But it sure seems like there have been quite a few incidents lately.

[shinek]

Great news, I'll look forward to getting the whole story. I'm sure there's something in there we could all learn from. Firstly, how to avoid the situation and perhaps, how to get through it, should it happen.