Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Village Voice News
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
  • Editorial
  • Letters
  • Global
  • Columns
    • Eye On Guyana
    • Hindsight
    • Lincoln Lewis Speaks
    • Future Notes
    • Blackout
    • From The Desk of Roysdale Forde SC
    • Diplomatic Speak
    • Mark’s Take
    • In the village
    • Mind Your Business
    • Bad & Bold
    • The Voice of Labour
    • The Herbal Section
    • Politics 101 with Dr. David Hinds
    • Talking Dollars & Making Sense
    • Book Review 
  • Education & Technology
  • E-Paper
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
  • Editorial
  • Letters
  • Global
  • Columns
    • Eye On Guyana
    • Hindsight
    • Lincoln Lewis Speaks
    • Future Notes
    • Blackout
    • From The Desk of Roysdale Forde SC
    • Diplomatic Speak
    • Mark’s Take
    • In the village
    • Mind Your Business
    • Bad & Bold
    • The Voice of Labour
    • The Herbal Section
    • Politics 101 with Dr. David Hinds
    • Talking Dollars & Making Sense
    • Book Review 
  • Education & Technology
  • E-Paper
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Village Voice News
No Result
View All Result
Home Regional

VIDEO: Sailor survives 24 days adrift in Caribbean Sea living off ketchup

Admin by Admin
January 21, 2023
in Regional
Castaway Elvis Francois is attended by Colombian Navy members after he was rescued near the department of La Guajira, in the extreme north of Colombia. According to the Navy, the 47-year-old from Dominica said he had been adrift for 24 days in the Caribbean Sea after he was repairing a boat last December near the island of Sint-Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles.
Colombian Navy press office via AP

Castaway Elvis Francois is attended by Colombian Navy members after he was rescued near the department of La Guajira, in the extreme north of Colombia. According to the Navy, the 47-year-old from Dominica said he had been adrift for 24 days in the Caribbean Sea after he was repairing a boat last December near the island of Sint-Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. Colombian Navy press office via AP

0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Support Village Voice News With a Donation of Your Choice.

BOGOTA, Colombia — The Colombian navy rescued a man from Dominica who says he survived 24 days adrift in the Caribbean on a sailboat by eating ketchup, garlic powder and seasoning cubes.

Elvis Francois, 47, had scrawled the word “help” in English on the boat’s hull, which officials said was key to his rescue.

READ ALSO

Caribbean Community condemns the killing of police officers in Haiti

Jamaica Enlists FBI’s Help As Usain Bolt Loses $12.7M In One Of Country’s Largest Scams Ever

The sailboat was spotted from the air 120 nautical miles northwest of La Guajira peninsula and Francois was taken to the port city of Cartagena by a passing container ship, the Colombian navy said in a statement Wednesday.

Francois told Colombian authorities that his ordeal began in December when currents swept the sailboat out to sea while he was making repairs off the island of St. Martin in the Netherlands Antilles, where he lives.

Advertisement

“I called my friends, they tried to contact me, but I lost the signal. There was nothing else to do but sit and wait,” Francois recalled in a video released by the navy.

He said subsisted on a bottle of ketchup, garlic powder and Maggi cubes.

Cmdr. Carlos Urbano Montes told The Associated Press on Thursday that Francois said he collected rainwater with a cloth. He said Francois was found in good health, but told official he had lost weight.

Francois said on the videotape that he had to constantly remove water from the boat to prevent it from sinking. He also tried to light a fire to send a distress signal without success.

Finally, a plane passed by and he signaled with a mirror. He said the navy told him that he was spotted when the plane passed again.

“At some point I lost hope and thought about my family, but I thank the coast guard. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t be telling the story,” Francois said.

Urbano Montes said the sailboat was abandoned at sea when Francois was picked up by the merchant ship.

The navy said Francois received a medical check on shore and then was handed over to immigration authorities for his return home to Dominica. (Associated Press)

 



Support Village Voice News With a Donation of Your Choice



ShareTweetSendShareSend

Related Posts

A street vendor walks past a burning barricade that was set up by members of the police as they protest bad police governance, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, January 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Regional

Caribbean Community condemns the killing of police officers in Haiti

by Admin
January 30, 2023

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) says it is deeply concerned that the contrasting incidents involving the Haitian national Police indicate the...

Read more
Regional

Jamaica Enlists FBI’s Help As Usain Bolt Loses $12.7M In One Of Country’s Largest Scams Ever

by Admin
January 27, 2023

By Aria Bell-After it was discovered that eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt‘s bank account only has $12,000 in it, the...

Read more
President Luiz Inácio da Silva
Regional

Brazil President works to reverse Amazon deforestation

by Admin
January 22, 2023

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Shaking a traditional rattle, Brazil’s incoming head of Indigenous affairs recently walked through every corner...

Read more
Next Post
The Leopard tank is designed to compete with the Russian tanks being used in the invasion

EDITOR'S PICK

Guterres Underlines Need For Peace As Ukraine Marks Six Months Of ‘Senseless War’

August 28, 2022
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall

Govt goes to court over delays in construction of St Rose’s High

January 21, 2021

Opposition sees sinister plot in move against police service commission 

May 19, 2021
L-R PNCR Executive Aubrey Norton and  Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon

Will leadership change in the PNCR affect Opposition Leader post?

December 12, 2021

© 2022 Village Voice | Developed by Ink Creative Agency

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
  • Editorial
  • Letters
  • Global
  • Columns
    • Eye On Guyana
    • Hindsight
    • Lincoln Lewis Speaks
    • Future Notes
    • Blackout
    • From The Desk of Roysdale Forde SC
    • Diplomatic Speak
    • Mark’s Take
    • In the village
    • Mind Your Business
    • Bad & Bold
    • The Voice of Labour
    • The Herbal Section
    • Politics 101 with Dr. David Hinds
    • Talking Dollars & Making Sense
    • Book Review 
  • Education & Technology
  • E-Paper
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Village Voice | Developed by Ink Creative Agency