The woman was airlifted by Japan's coast guard helicopter to land, slightly dehydrated but in good health
- A woman was rescued after being swept out to sea while swimming at a Japanese beach, drifting in a swimming ring for 37 hours and more than 50 miles in the Pacific Ocean.
- Japan's coast guard initiated a search for the woman, identified as a Chinese national in her 20s, after her friend reported her missing on Monday night.
- The woman was found by a cargo ship off the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula on Wednesday.
A Chinese woman who was swept out to sea while swimming at a Japanese beach was rescued 37 hours later after drifting in a swimming ring more than 50 miles in the Pacific Ocean, officials said Thursday.
Japan's coast guard launched a search for the woman, identified only as a Chinese national in her 20s, after receiving a call Monday night from her friend saying she had disappeared while swimming at Shimoda, about 125 miles southwest of Tokyo.
The woman was spotted by a cargo ship early Wednesday, about 36 hours after she disappeared, off the southern tip of Boso Peninsula, the coast guard said.
'OH GOD! YOU MADE IT!': FL DIVER RESCUED BY FAMILY AFTER BEING SWEPT OUT TO SEA BY CURRENT
The cargo ship asked a passing LPG tanker, the Kakuwa Maru No. 8, to help. Two of its crew members jumped into the sea and rescued the woman, officials said. She was airlifted by a coast guard helicopter to land, they said.
A woman is airlifted by a coast guard helicopter off Nojimazaki, Chiba prefecture, Japan, on July 10, 2024. The woman, who was swept out to sea while swimming at a Japanese beach, was rescued 37 hours later after drifting in a swimming ring 50 miles away in the Pacific Ocean, officials said on Thursday. (Japan Coast Guard via AP)
The woman was slightly dehydrated but was in good health and walked away after being examined at a nearby hospital, the officials said.
The coast guard said she had drifted more than 50 miles and was lucky to have survived despite the dangers of heat stroke under the sun, hypothermia at night or being hit by a ship in the dark.