BY CDNN

All of the eight missing Taiwanese scuba divers were miraculously rescued yesterday after nearly 48 hours of drifting in the ocean offshore Taiwan's eastern county Taitung, said the local coast guard yesterday.

"All of us kept talking to each other when we were drifting in the sea," said one of the divers, 38-year-old Tu Ting-chang after being rescued from the sea yesterday afternoon.

He added that the divers called each others' names every three minutes to keep every one conscious, and they drank rainwater when they were thirsty, which was why they were able to survive the ordeal.

All eight divers - six men and two women - were rescued in the country's eastern county, Taitung, around 10:30 a.m. yesterday.

The group of divers had drifted over 100 kilometers at sea from the location where they were originally reported missing last Saturday, near Chihsingyen (Seven Star Rocks), 22 km southwest of the southernmost tip of Taiwan.

The divers were promptly airlifted to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taitung for treatment after they were rescued yesterday.

All of them were in stable condition except for minor sunburn and low body temperatures, according to their doctors.

The rescue mission was made possible thanks to the diving group's dive coach 32-year-old male Ting Po-ling, whose remarkable feat of endurance of swimming for nearly half a day to shore for help finally saved the whole team.

Ting, after a waiting in vain for rescuers for nearly 24 hours, set off on an 11-hour swim of more than 5 km, fighting against the strong currents of the Black Tide. After he finally reached the shore around midnight Sunday in Taimali in Taitung County, Ting immediately informed local coast guard of the location of the seven remaining divers.

In the meantime, the seven divers saved their energy by floating on their backs and held hands with each other to avoid being separated.

The rescue team began their search in the coastal area around Taimali and soon spotted four of the divers at around 1:35 a.m.

The four were spotted in pitch dark water because they kept swinging their flashlights, according to the crew of a helicopter mobilized by the Pingtung air base, who rescued them.

At 5:50 a.m. yesterday, the rescue team found another surviving diver on the beach. The rescuers found the final two divers, Wang Chih-yu, 25 and Lee Su-ling, 44, near the Taitung coast at around 10:30 a.m. to successfully wrap up the mission.

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