Sole survivor spent nearly 17 hours in water

Abu Dhabi: The sole survivor (to date) of last weeks' cargo ship accident was out in the sea for nearly 17 hours before he was washed ashore an island, putting behind him the harrowing ordeal, Gulf News has learnt.

"I was shocked to see the man who turned up at our door.... It was around 11.30 am on Thursday. He was partly dressed wearing only the Pakistani shalwar [top] and a life jacket. He looked completely drained out," said Ahmad, a worker at the island where the survivor washed up. Ahmad was among the first to spot the man.

It was on February 11 that the cargo ship Danah III set sail with nine men onboard. The ship was sailing from Jebel Al Dhanna to Jirneen Island to deliver a cargo of four trucks when hostile weather conditions led to its sinking. Jahangir Khan, the Pakistani truck driver who is the lone survivor, has now recovered.

"Initially he was not even in a position to explain to us what had happened," Ahmad said. After providing Khan with clothes to change into and food and water, the workers took their boat and ventured into the sea in a bid to find other survivors. "The visibility was very poor... We came across an upturned lifeboat which we tied and dragged along to the island", he recollected.

(Names have been changed to protect identities.)