Four fishermen return safely home to Keelung

The four were Ho Mao-hsiung, 68 and captain of the Ching Hung No. 168 fishing boat; Lin Ching-chung, 61; Lee Kun-tsai, 56; and Chen Chang-keng, 60.

They were warmly received by Keelung Mayor Chang Tung-jung at the Keelung Fishermen Association. While glad to see the four return safe and sound, Chang expressed his gratitude to the Straits Exchange Foundation, the Fisheries Agency under the Council of Agriculture, and various other sectors for their assistance needed to help the four Keelung fishermen return home smoothly.

The boat sailed from the Badouzi fishing port of Keelung on the afternoon of July 24, carrying 50 Chinese fishermen back to Sansha off coastal Fujian Province. The boat caught fire on the night of July 25 while it was returning to Keelung with four Taiwanese crewmen and one Chinese fisherman aboard.

On the afternoon of July 26, the Chinese fisherman separated from the other four crewmen, trying to seek help from other Sansha fishermen. He was luckily saved by a Chinese fishing boat.

After staying afloat for 20 hours at sea, the four Taiwanese crewmen spotted an island and made a swim for it.

After staying on the uninhabited island for four days and three nights, the four were found by a Chinese fishing boat and were then sent to a hospital near the Sansha port for medical treatment.

Family members of the four surviving fishermen flew to the hospital to meet them on July 30, and they all took a passenger boat from Mawei port of Fujian to Matsu yesterday morning, and then took a flight back to Taipei yesterday afternoon.

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