Japanese diver speaks about days at sea
A Japanese scuba diver who survived three days in waters off Bali after going missing with six other women has told how the weather suddenly turned bad and the sea spun "like a washing machine".
Saori Furukawa, one of five Japanese divers rescued on Monday, gave her dramatic account as rescuers hunted for a woman still missing and a day after a body of one diver was found.
Furukawa said the weather seemed "serene" when the group set off on Friday from Nusa Lembongan, just east of Bali.
"At the start of our diving, there was no problem in terms of weather and sea conditions," she said in a statement to Japanese media on Tuesday, adding there were "almost no waves".
But the group was suddenly hit by a huge storm, she added.
"The surface of the sea started to spin like a washing machine and all of us spun around together, hand in hand," she said.
The 37-year-old and four others managed to clamber onto rocks and coral reefs, and were picked up by rescuers on Monday and taken to hospital.
They were found about 20 kilometres from where they set off, although Furukawa was in a different spot from the others.
She had separated to try to reach a passing tugboat, but said she "couldn't get close".
Furukawa arrived at a rocky outcrop late on Saturday and survived by drinking rainwater.
Rescuers continued to search for the seventh diver, instructor Shoko Takahashi, who with her Indonesian husband ran the company, Yellow Scuba, that took the divers out on the expedition.
Her husband, Putu Mahardena Sembah, joined the search on Wednesday, telling reporters "I wish we can find" her, although police said her chances of survival were slim.
Japanese friends and relatives of the divers, who had travelled to Bali to help in the search, were among the rescuers setting off from the beach, which is lined with scuba diving centres.
Rescue agency officials said they would expand their search area to the neighbouring island of Lombok, as well as hunting near the tourist areas of Sanur and Kuta in southern Bali.
However, police chief Nyoman Suarsika warned: "The chances of finding her alive are very slim now that she has been missing for five days."
