Francesca Vincenti, a woman who made a public appeal for drone pilots to help in the rescue of her niece’s boyfriend and friend, described how the pair were of “immense support to each other in moments of weakness” as they waited for their ordeal to be over.
Nick Johnson, 19 from Birzebbuga (left) , and Mark Petric, 21 from Serbia (right) were reported missing on Saturday after their respective families reported that they never came home from an afternoon bike ride and swim the day before.
They were found this morning, safe and sound, in the area is known as Blata tal-Melh, in the limits of Fomm ir-Rih, a secluded bay close to Bahrija. (Photo above, Net TV)
Vincenti spoke of how a “wonderful” fisherman, named Tony Zammit, spotted the pair and alerted the Armed Forces of Malta to deploy a patrol ship. Renewed rescue efforts were planned for this morning as winds and sea roughness died down, however before rescue teams could make it down there the pair had already been found.
“It was Friday when both boys had gone swimming and the sea wasn’t as rough yet, whether it due to their inexperience or their youth and because they didn’t look at the weather forecast; but they jumped in thinking it was ok."
Below is a status uploaded to Facebook by Nick Johnson, where he says "thank you everyone, happy to be alive and not drinking urine anymore, dunno what [to] say it feels like a dream".
“While they were in there, the waves and wind picked and they realised they were in trouble. By Friday afternoon the wind really picked up and they tried to get out and they couldn’t.
“They swam further down and tried to get out and still they couldn’t, then they tried further down the coast, where there is a third cave south of Blat tal-Melh which they manged to get into and climbed onto some ledges in there and clung on in there.
“They did in fact hear boats passing, even yesterday when we were passing looking for them and they clung on and they could hear the boats but the boats couldn’t hear them because of the raging seas. So in moments of panic over the three days one or the other would swim out to see if they could see anyone. But they supported each other throughout and were of immense support to each other in moments of weakness.
“When the wind and waves subsided this morning, which was when we had planned to go down again on foot, with boats and using drones to check the sea caves specifically, they managed to swim out. They swam out, exhausted as they were, and as they tried to swim up to the point where they originally jumped in the sea they were fished out by a wonderful fisherman called Tony Zammit.
“All praise to him for being at the right place at the right time. It was really him who fished them out, he alerted the AFM who deployed a patrol ship and got them to safety. They are now safe and sound in Mater Dei. They are doing well, they only had an a couple abrasions and cuts on their feet.
Asked about how they boys were feeling this morning, Vincenti said “they are a bit dehydrated but otherwise in good health, they are under the care of the very capable doctors...they will be keeping them for observation at least overnight”.
Turning to their mental state after the harrowing ordeal, she said:
“I think they are relieved, I think they are in shock, this is going to be life changing for them and many people who were involved. Something like this would not have happened without the general public coming together. The power of information and communication in today’s world, everybody was looking, so the important thing is to never give up. If it was me, despite my 37 years of experience as a sailor, I wouldn’t want anybody to give up on me.”
In an interview with NET news, Zammit spoke of how proud he is to have spotted the two men. He said that he had decided to go fishing and was in the water at 4.15am, in pitch black. He had a torch and when the pair saw the light they began screaming for help. Zammit said that he went as close to them as possible, and confirmed that they were in need of help.
Being a seasoned fisherman and knowing the area well, Zammit knew he did not have reception on his mobile to call for a rescue boat. He informed them that he would be walking out to a spot where he knew he would have reception, and that he would be coming right back.
After calling for help, Zammit managed to drop water down to the boys with a rope, and in the meantime AFM arrived on the scene to carry out the rescue mission.
Police statement
The police said that it was a 57-year-old fisherman who spotted the two young men who were frantically making signs from a cave in the Blata l-Melh area.
The assistance of the AFM was sought because the area was not accessible on foot. AFM personnel managed to go close to the area in a dinghy and rescued the two men.
They were taken by boat to Cirkewwa, and later to hospital in an ambulance.
The two were reported to be in good health, the police said.
AFM statement
In a statement, the Armed Forces of Malta said that earlier this morning the AFM brought to safety the two young men who were missing for the past two days.
The youths were found stuck on the edge of a cliff off Mtaħleb. The AFM were alerted after two persons were spotted in the area by an AFM aircraft conducted a search on the site.
The AFM immediately dispatched an AW139 helicopter and the Melita II Search and Rescue launch to evacuate the youths. The two young men managed to make their way to the sea and were later recovered by the AFM’s Search and Rescue launch and transferred to medical staff on land, the AFM said.
The police said that a farmer called this morning to report that he had located the two missing persons, not far from the area where they had left their bikes.
The two young men were found clinging to rocks close to where their clothes had been found on Saturday, triggering the search and rescue operation.
An eyewitness who saw the rescure operation said that the two young men appeared weak, possibly dehydrated, when they were taken in an ambulance to Mater Dei Hospital.
The area is known as Blata tal-Melh, in the limits of Fomm ir-Rih, a secluded bay close to Bahrija.
Both men have been transferred to Mater Dei Hospital, where they will be temporarily kept for observation.
A helicopter has also been deployed to the area to assist in the operation.
Kerstin Panzavecchia, Nick's mother, said on Facebook that the two men are "both alive".
On Sunday night, a call had been made for owners of drones to help in the search and rescue operation. An exercise with the help of the public had also been planned for this morning.