Teen Survives Three Days on Capsized Skiff in Bering Sea; Brother and Cousin Dead

A 15-year-old boy spent close to three days clinging to the hull of an overturned skiff in Alaska's frigid Bering Sea before a passing fishing vessel hauled him to safety this week, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The boy's brother and a cousin died after the small boat flipped, according to rescuers. Their bodies were recovered after the teenager was hoisted aboard near St. Lawrence Island, a remote Alaskan outpost that lies closer to Russia than to the U.S. mainland.

Adam White, captain of the fishing boat The Northwest Explorer, said the boy had held on to the capsized skiff for nearly three days. "That's one tough kid," White told KTUU-TV in Anchorage.

The three had set out from St. Lawrence Island on Friday and intended to return early Sunday, the Coast Guard said. Family members reported them missing on Sunday night, prompting a search that began Monday morning with Coast Guard planes and helicopters. Authorities have not released the names of the three.

A Coast Guard air crew spotted the boy on Monday morning and dropped a raft and supplies before making contact with The Northwest Explorer.

Rescue footage shows the boy in a bright yellow jacket kneeling on the overturned skiff as the fishing crew throws him a line and tugs the vessel closer, eventually pulling him into a rescue basket. The Coast Guard said he showed symptoms of hypothermia once aboard, and the crew warmed him with blankets and hot packs.

White said that amid his shivering, the boy told the crew his brother was still beneath the skiff, and that his cousin had slipped away the previous night, before the rescue.