Two tourists who were dragged out by intense currents at Bail’s Nusa Penida island were successfully evacuated on Wednesday morning after being stuck on an islet for nearly 20 hours.
Just a short boat ride away from Bali, Nusa Penida is a smaller, less-developed island that is becoming an increasingly popular destination for travelers.
Both tourists, identified in reports as South African Daniel Anderson, 21, and Danish man, Devin Grey, 39, are said to be in stable condition but covered in external wounds.
The two reportedly went out spearfishing yesterday afternoon at Penida’s Atuh Beach around 3pm with another South African friend, Sean Sutton, 22, when they apparently got taken by surprise and dragged out to sea. While Sutton managed to swim back and make it to the beach on the mainland, the other two got stuck out at a rocky islet.
After hours of trying to reach the pair, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) was finally able to evacuate them at 10am this morning.
“We launched a search for the victims. At around 6pm, two of the victims were seen from the cliff edge of one of the islands around Atuh Beach. At that moment the condition of the tide was still low. The location of the island is difficult to reach,” Nusa Penida Police Chief Suastika told Tribun Bali on Wednesday.
It’s understood that the three tourists had been camping out for the past three weeks around Atuh Beach, local residents told Tribun Bali.
Editor’s Note: While it was originally reported by local media that both tourists evacuated were South African, it’s come to our attention that one of the men is actually Danish. We have updated this story to include this correction.
