Three children survive six days on tiny island after boat capsized

THREE children survived six days on a tiny island off the northern coast of Australia living on coconuts, oysters and fruit after swimming two miles to safety when their boat capsized.

Their ordeal ended when they were picked up by boat from tiny Matu Island in the Torres Strait, but their parents and three-year-old brother remain missing.

The castaways, aged 10 to 15, were rescued hours after the family was reported missing following their departure from Badu Island in a 16-foot dinghy on July 6.Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokesman Ben Mitchell said that an air and sea search was continuing for the missing family members. “We have considerable concerns for their welfare. We are hoping they have made it to a rocky outcrop or island,” he said. Missing are Badu’s Assembly of God pastor Haley Tamwoy, also known as Naseli Nona, his wife, Lisa, and their son, Clarence.

Mr Tamwoy’s sister-in-law, Wendy Phineasa, said the family left the island last Tuesday to attend a 21st birthday party on Thursday Island, where relatives were expecting them.

She said Mr Tamwoy was in his 50s, an experienced boatman and a diabetic.

The three castaways - Ellis, aged 15, Norita, aged 10, and their 12-year-old brother, Stephen (also known as Bala) - told police the dinghy’s engine cut out in choppy seas before the boat capsized. They said their father told them to swim to a small island while he and their mother stayed with their young son.

“They kept looking back and they could see their mum and dad in the water until a good distance away and then when they looked back they couldn’t see them anymore,” said Mrs Phineasa. “Thank God the three of them are very good swimmers.”

After hours in the water, the children reached rocky outcrops where they stayed until last Friday.