Photo: Screenshot//Newsflare
Learning to surf is fraught with hazard, but it almost turned deadly for one Russian tourist. On March 5, Iurii Orlov, 64, decided to try his hand at surfing with two friends while visiting Bali. Things took a turn when strong currents separated him from his friends and pulled him out to sea. According to Newsflare, it would be 20 hours before he was finally rescued.
Orlov was found by local fisherman Agus Putra Yohana, 34, who had noticed the surfboard floating in the middle of the ocean. At first, he didn’t even realize there was a person there, having approached the board with the intention of retrieving it. He told Newsflare, “I didn’t catch any fish, and when I saw the surfboard I planned to take it home for my child, but when I got closer I realised there was a person on it, so I helped pull him up.”
In a video Yohana took of the rescue, Orlov seemed to take the situation in stride, laughing and saying “I am tired.” When approached by the fisherman.
When he discovered Orlov, Yohana promptly called for help. According to head of the Denpasar Search and Rescue Office Nyoman Sidakarya, eight Nusa Dua marine police rescue personnel were promptly mobilized, with the help of additional crew members sent from Jimbaran and Benoa Harbor.
However, that was not the end of Orlov’s ordeal. Initial rescue attempts were thwarted by high waves and strong winds. Eventually, authorities were able to find the tourist and fisherman, and Orlov was brought back to Nusa Dua Beach Hotel in South Kuta, having only sustained minor injuries.
