Fishermen in three-week survival ordeal

A fishing trip turned into a three-week fight for survival for two men, who drifted under an intense Caribbean sun for hundreds of miles in a small boat with a broken motor.

The Jamaicans survived by eating raw fish they caught and drinking water from melted ice they had brought to preserve their catch. The Colombian navy finally plucked them from the sea and delivered them home yesterday after treating them for severe dehydration, malnutrition and hypothermia.

Fishermen Everton Gregory, 54, and John Sobah, 58, said they set off from Jamaica’s south-eastern coast on Nov 20. The water was glassy, the wind was calm and their boat was laden with 14 buckets of ice, 16 gallons of water and several bags of cereal, bread and fruit.