Fishermen rescued after clinging to beer cooler

Four men spent 17 hours in Lake Ontario clinging to an empty beer cooler after 5ft waves capsized and sank their fishing boat.

The men were rescued on Wednesday morning after a man living near the shore heard faint cries for help and took out his boat.

‘‘Thank goodness they didn’t give up hollering,’’ said the rescuer Joe Stewart.

‘‘It was nothing short of a miracle,’’ survivor Todd Wafer, 23, said from his bed at Oswego Hospital, New York.

Also rescued were Dan Trumble, 45, Rich Batchelor, 31, and Tom Ketcham, 28, all of Mexico, New York.