• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Miraculous moment surfers are found floating in the ocean after 36 hours missing

Home> News> World News

Updated 11:29 15 Aug 2023 GMT+1Published 01:08 15 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Miraculous moment surfers are found floating in the ocean after 36 hours missing

The boat they were travelling in went missing during bad weather and a huge search and rescue mission was launched.

Keryn Donnelly

Keryn Donnelly

Dramatic footage has been released on social media showing the moment three Australian surfers who had been lost at sea for over 36 hours were found by rescuers.

Elliot Foote, his girlfriend Steph Weisse, Will Teagle and Jordan Short were heading to Pinang Island, off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, when they disappeared.

The four friends and keen surfers had been travelling with eight other pals to celebrate Foote’s 30th birthday.

Advert

The group of friends were travelling on two separate boats when they hit a storm on Sunday (August 13) night.

One of the boats reached the destination after taking shelter, but the other had not been seen since 6pm on Sunday night.

On Monday, a search and rescue effort was launched to find the missing vessel. Three Indonesian crew members were also on board at the time.

The moment three of the surfers were rescued.
Sky Australia

Basarnas, the Indonesian search and rescue agency, said more than 20 police, military and volunteers had been searching the sea for the missing vessel.

Advert

"Our team has arrived at Sarang Alu Island today to search the area. It is the last spot before both boats separated," Chief Octavianto told reporters on Monday.

He continued: "The waves are three to four metres high. It is raining heavily and it's dark. We can only use smaller boats with good aerodynamics due to the weather. We are searching within 40 nautical miles of Sarang Alu Island."

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade chartered a private plane to join the search.

By Tuesday, authorities found Weisse, Teagle and Short, with footage showing them shouting for help as rescuers arrived. Foote was still missing.

Elliot Foote and his girlfriend Steph Weisse.
Family photo

Advert

Thankfully, he was found later, having set off on his own to try and get to shore.

His father Peter said: "They all grabbed floatation devices and surfboards and they were huddling together.

“But Elliot decided to paddle and get help. He thought an island was in a particular direction and set off.

“He was petrified. He was drifting on a surfboard on his own for a day-and-a-half and it broke my heart to hear how scared he was.

“At night he was drifting all alone in an ocean and it’s jet black."

Advert

Two Indonesian crew members on the boat were also rescued, although one remains missing as of Tuesday afternoon.

Before boarding the boat on Sunday, Foote posted a series of photos of himself surfing on Instagram.

“Soho gulah Sorake… so good being back in Indo after so many years. Sharing waves with mates and the Queen,” he wrote in the caption.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram

Topics: News, Australia

Keryn Donnelly
Keryn Donnelly

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

11 hours ago
12 hours ago
13 hours ago
  • Getty Stock Images
    11 hours ago

    Scientists have 'finally solved' mystery of Easter Island heads in groundbreaking discovery

    Scientists believe they've cracked the process in which the statues were moved into place

    News
  • Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
    11 hours ago

    Urgent note handed to Donald Trump by Secretary of State has been exposed by zoomed-in photo

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed Donald Trump a note at a roundtable event in the White House’s Blue Room

    News
  • Vicky Unwin
    12 hours ago

    Woman whose daughter died after ketamine overdose reveals why she still wants the drug legalised

    Vicky Unwin's daughter Louise died from a ketamine overdose in 2011

    News
  • YouTube/I (don’t) have dementia
    13 hours ago

    Man diagnosed with Alzheimer's aged 41 shares potentially life changing health update

    Australian researcher Fraser has shared a health update after being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's in 2024

    News
  • Major FBI development in Amelia Earhart investigation after missing photos found
  • Heart-stopping moment missing child found walking 100ft in the air on monorail track
  • Shocking live TV moment dad is told missing son has been found in his basement
  • Backpacker found alive after being completely lost for 12 days in the Australian Outback