Sydney – A lone fisherman survived more than five hours at sea after being dragged overboard by a large marlin off the coast of Western Australia, an official said Wednesday.
The man, believed to be in his 20s, was fishing about 22 kilometres off North West Cape, near Exmouth, on Tuesday when he snagged the fish and was pulled off his boat, which continued on without him.
George Simmons, deputy commander of Exmouth Volunteer Marine Rescue Group, said the man, suffering from hypothermia and shock, was taken to a local hospital. He is originally from New Zealand.
“He is incredibly lucky to be alive. He was alone in the boat and he was in a remote part of the waters,” Simmons told dpa.
“There were other fishermen in the area. After not being able to get him on the radio for more than three hours, they started looking.”
An official rescue started after one of the fishermen spotted the man’s boat travelling at speed without a driver and alerted the authorities.
-dpa
