Tourists from a boat that sank off eastern Indonesia on Saturday revealed they swam over six hours and drank their own urine to survive.
The boat carrying 25 people, including foreigners and Indonesians, was on its way to Komodo island from Lombok island when it was struck by a large wave and crashed into a reef, the BBC reported. Ten people were rescued Sunday and two remain missing after the boat sank near the volcanic island of Sangeang.
Six people escaped the sinking vessel in a lifeboat. But there wasn't enough room for the rest of the passengers, who climbed on top of the vessel, The Guardian reported.
Survivors waited on top of the boat for 12 hours before deciding to make the six-hour swim to Sangeang.
"People started to panic...Everyone took the decision to swim to the closest island, five kilometers (three miles) away, where there was an erupting volcano," Bertrand Homassel, a French survivor, told The Guardian from a hotel on Sumbawa island.
They arrived on the volcanic island Saturday night, keeping themselves alive by eating leaves and drinking their own urine. The tourists were rescued Sunday after they intercepted a passing boat.
The survivors are believed to be from France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Britain, the newspaper reported. One Indonesian tour guide and four crew members were also onboard.
Another 13 people, including eight foreigners and the crew, were rescued on Monday but two foreigners, a Dutch man and Italian woman, remain missing. Search efforts with a helicopter and speedboats were delayed by severe weather and massive waves, the BBC reported.
The tourists were on a three-day journey through Indonesia when the vessel sank. Boats are the island chain's main form of transportation, but a lack of safety regulations leads to accidents, the BBC reported.
