India: Life raft couple saved after eight days

A couple survived eight days on a life raft in a storm-tossed sea after their yacht sank.

Libi Belozerzki, 27, and Pierpaolo Mori, 35, left the Maldives heading for the Red Sea but their boat overturned in a monsoon, the Indian coast guard said.

An alert went out after the international rescue co-ordination centre lost contact with them on September 24.

A Belgian tug found them on October 3, said a spokesman.

“The yacht had a life raft on board and they survived because they had emergency rations and water.”

They were taken to hospital in the southern Indian city of Kochi, and treated for dehydration and sunburn.

The couple, an Israeli and Italian, returned to Italy yesterday.