Nigerian Man Survives 3 Days Under Water In Air Bubble!

In what has been described as an incredible feat, a team of South African divers, including at least four from Durban, has rescued a man who spent almost three days in an air bubble – 30m under the sea – after the tugboat he was on capsized off the coast of Nigeria.

Ten other crew members died and one went missing. Many of them were locked in their cabins as a precaution against pirates.

But Nigerian Harrison Okene had just got up when the ship rolled. He was able to get himself into an air bubble just 1.5m by 3m, where he perched on a table to keep himself alive, drinking softdrinks out of cans that were floating around him.

What was meant to be a body recovery mission for the South African divers turned into an underwater rescue when, after 60 hours alone in the wreck, Okene grabbed a diver as he swam past, having earlier failed to attract the attention of the first diver down.culled

Divers were shocked to have found Okene alive and said they were amazed by how calm he was during the rescue. Because he had been 30m underwater his body had filled with nitrogen and divers had to put him into a decompression helmet before he could be safely brought to the surface.

Okene’s incredible feat and the divers’ effort to bring him to the surface safely has caught the attention of maritime experts and international film-makers who want to turn the rescue into a documentary.