Japanese man in ‘miracle’ rescue after 22 hours on capsized boat

Watch as a 69-year-old man is pulled to safety by the Japanese coastguard nearly 22-hours after his boat capsized in stormy waters.

The unidentified Japanese man was located off the Kagoshima prefecture in Japan’s Kyushu island, where his rescuers found him wrapped in a grey plastic sheet sitting on the engine of his capsized boat. He was clasping onto the upturned boat’s propeller to maintain his balance in the choppy seas.

According to The Independent, once his boat began to sink he called a colleague on the island but was only found about 22 hours after he placed the call. 

“He was out in the sea alone for 22 hours. I am amazed by his survival skills,” one coastguard official was quoted as saying. “It’s a miracle he survived.”

The reason for the incident is still under investigation.