THIS is the astonishing moment a diver who vanished at sea was rescued alive two days later – after drifting nearly 100 miles from Morocco to Spain.
The 23-year-old had been diving with friends off Fnideq, on the north coast, when he suddenly disappeared beneath the waves.
Helicopter footage shows the rescued diver lying on a merchant ship[/caption]
Crew members aboard a merchant ship bound for Portugal spotted the young diver around 24 nautical miles off Caleta de Vélez on Spain’s Costa del Sol last Friday.
They immediately alerted authorities, and a helicopter raced to the scene to carry out a dramatic rescue.
Footage from the helicopter shows the tense moments before he was evacuated from the merchant ship.
He was rushed to Motril on Spain’s Costa Tropical, which has an emergency helipad, allowing him to be taken straight to hospital.
The 23-year-old, who later told police he had been swept out to sea since Wednesday afternoon, was wearing a wetsuit.
Although he showed signs of hypothermia, he was miraculously stable.
He explained that he had been diving off the coast of Fnideq when powerful currents swept him away.
Losing sight of his group, the tide carried him into open water.
By the time rescuers found him, he had drifted an astonishing 96 miles across the sea.
At the hospital, he was semi-conscious and suffering from dehydration.
He remained under observation on Saturday but is expected to return to Morocco once discharged.
It comes as 19-year-old surfer was miraculously found alive and well after being swept 9 miles offshore in Australia.
Darcy Deefholts’s dad described the rescue as “one in a million” after a major search operation located his son.
The teen had been missing for 17 hours when he was found on North Solitary Island off the New South Wales coast.
He had taken his surf board to Wooli beach on Tuesday afternoon, but his parents contacted the police when he did not return home.
Darcy was swept some nine miles out to sea, and his parents put out a panicked plea for help on social media.
His clothes, bike and shoes were found at an access point to the beach.
His dad called it a “one in a million” rescue. He said “Who survives this?”
“It’s kind of surreal. I was at the point of thinking the absolute worst.”
