Eight Indonesian fishermen feared drowned; 11 rescued off Australian coast

Eight Indonesian fishermen are feared drowned and another 11 have been rescued after spending six days without food or water on a barren island off the northwest Australian coast after a powerful tropical cyclone, authorities said on April 19.

Eight Indonesian fishermen are feared drowned and another 11 have been rescued after spending six days without food or water on a barren island off the northwest Australian coast after a powerful tropical cyclone, authorities said on April 19.

Two primitive wooden Indonesian fishing boats were caught in the path of Cyclone Ilsa, which made landfall on Friday as Australia's most powerful storm in eight years, with winds gusting at an apparent record of 289 km (180 miles) per hour.

One of the boats, Putri Jaya, sank in “extreme weather conditions” on April 11 or 12 while Ilsa was gathering strength over the Indian Ocean and heading toward the coast, Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement, citing survivors.

“The other boat, Express 1, ran aground with 10 men aboard in the early hours of April 12 on Bedwell Island, a sandy outcrop some 300 km (200 miles) west of the Australian coastal tourist town of Broome,” the authority said.

“The only known survivor from the Putri Jaya spent 30 hours in the water before washing ashore on the same island,” the statement said.

"They all remained (on Bedwell Island) for six days without food and water before being rescued on Monday night,” the authority said.