Rough seas delay return of rescued fishermen [1]
Thursday, August 14, 2014 - 17:44. Updated on Thursday, August 14, 2014 - 17:45.
Three Tongan fishermen rescued on a reef in the Lau Group last week have not been transported to Suva from the island of Oneata due to rough seas.
Police in Nuku’alofa said today that a Police Post in Lakeba reported that the men were all in good health.
“A boat is expected to leave the small island of Oneata sometime next week and we expect the men to be on it,” they said.
The police in Lakeba have kept regular phone contact with one of the fishermen, Sione Taulafo who reported they are well and were being taken care off by the people on the island.
On 8 August, police in Nuku’alofa received information from Fiji Police that divers had found three men, believed to be Tongans, swimming in the sea near Oneata.
The men are a father ‘Elone Taulafo who is his 50’s, his son Sione, and son-in-law Sofele Folau who went missing in Tonga on July 30 when they left in a 20ft boat from Nomuka, Ha’apai on a fishing trip.