[Yonhap Photo]
A 47-year-old man saved his life, using his backpack to stay afloat for three hours, after falling off a ferry near South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju. The lucky survivor was recuperating in a hospital after being rescued by a coastguard vessel.
The man identified by his surname Koh plunged into the sea at 4:40 am (1940GMT) Thursday and was rescued three hours later. It's not known immediately why he fell from the ferry heading from the southwestern port city of Mokpo.
"I was paying attention to the man on the deck but suddenly, he was nowhere," a ferry worker who made an emergency call to the coast guard told Yonhap News Agency.
Koh was found drifting in the sea about 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) southeast of Jeju. "His backpack had waterproof features," a coast guard officer was quoted as saying.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
