Two Bahamian citizens were stranded for eight days on their capsized boat in the Atlantic Ocean before they were rescued Saturday by the U.S. Coast Guard off the Florida coast, officials said.

The Coast Guard, which located the boat east of Riviera Beach, Fla., after receiving a report of a capsized vessel, released a photo of two men clinging to the hull of their overturned boat as rescuers approached by helicopter. Their identities weren’t released.

A rescue swimmer lowered into the water from the helicopter swam to the stranded pair and “determined the people needed to be medically evacuated immediately and safely coordinated a hoist with the helicopter crew,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The pair told officials they had been adrift at sea for eight days and had drunk salt water, which can speed up dehydration.


The closest Bahamian island to Riviera Beach is about 60 miles away.

Officials said the men were taken to the Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach for treatment.

A receptionist at the facility said Sunday that she had no information about the rescued pair.

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