Following is a statement we just received from Komodo regarding the missing divers, now found:
Five divers were found alive today more than 40 hours after they were reported missing in Komodo National Park.
The three British nationals, Charlotte Allin, James Manning and
locally-based dive-master Kathleen Mitchinson, and an unidentified
Swedish woman and Frenchman, were discovered on the beach on the south
of Komodo Island near Tanjung Manta at 11.10 am (Bali time) by Pt.
Putri Naga Komodo’s speedboat Cakalang.
All divers, who were first reported missing at 5.30pm on Thursday
evening (5 June 2008), were reportedly in remarkably good condition
after their ordeal and a medical team from Labuan Bajo, the gateway to
the park, is heading toward the site to rendezvous with the speedboat.
The Park is considered one of the world’s premier dive sites but is
also home to some of the swiftest and most unpredictable currents and
undertows on the planet. Ironically, these fierce currents, a constant
concern for divers here, are at least partly responsible for Komodo’s
famously rich abundance of marine life.
Three cheers for the search and rescue team!!!
Another update to follow as soon as the divers reach Labuan Bajo.
