Activists on social media circulated a video clip, to rescue a number of Indonesian fishermen in the waters off the eastern island of Borneo, for an elderly fisherman who broke his boat and kept sticking to a simple wooden part for 6 days.
"Fishermen from the New City found a fisherman from Balikpapan, floating in the sea where his boat broke and sank, we hope you will always be in the protection of God Almighty," said Kang Santri, who posted the clip on Facebook.
According to local media, the 62-year-old fisherman, Hammadi Abu Ahmed, is a resident of Lower Downstream Village, in South Kalimantan Province.
On Thursday, September 17th, he sailed from the coasts of Kota Baru, in the South Kalimantan region, for about 30 nautical miles, in search of "tigiri" fish that he used to catch.
During a phone call between the fisherman and his son, he explained to him what had happened. He said that there was a leak in his boat due to the strong waves that he encountered during the trip, and he tried to fix that, but time was not in his favor, so the boat sank.
Fortunately, the fisherman found a wooden box to keep the fish, which he clung to and used it as a tool to float on the water, thinking that he would die after finding himself alone in the middle of the ocean.
Hammadi remained clinging to the box for 6 full days, without food or drink, until he was found last Thursday, by a passing fishing boat, in the waters of Taku Bindera, in East Kalimantan province, that is, in the waters of a region other than the one from which he set off, according to what his son confirmed Ahmed Bui in contact with local media.
For its part, the Indonesian police confirmed the incident, and explained that Hammadi is in good health at his family's home in Kuala Samboga, East Kalimantan, where a police official helped him to bear the food expenses and return to his home.