Two fishermen survive five days at sea in a cooler

Two fishermen have been rescued off the coast of southern Mexico after surviving for five days adrift at sea inside a cooler.

The men, aged 53 and 35, were found by the navy during a search and rescue operation approximately 240 kilometers off the coast of the Chiapas state in the Pacific Ocean. A fishing cooperative had alerted authorities when they lost contact with the fishermen, who had set out on their boat, the 'Camaronera'.

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A wave swamped the boat. Everything happened in the middle of the night at 3:00 AM (local time) in less than five minutes. We didn't have time to take anything with us – neither drinking water nor food nor the radio. The only thing we could do was empty the cooler and climb in.

One of the survivors, José Luis Portelas, described the harrowing experience. He recounted that a wave swamped their boat in the middle of the night, sinking it in less than five minutes. With no time to grab supplies, they emptied a cooler and climbed inside to survive.

"I thought I would not see my family again," said Daniel Guerrero, the other fisherman. They faced extreme hardship without any means to catch fish or access to water. The intense sun also took a severe toll. The navy deployed ships and aircraft for the search, eventually spotting the men in the blue cooler. They were airlifted to Puerto Chiapas, where they were tearfully reunited with their families.

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I thought I would not see my family again. It was difficult. We had no means to catch fish, nor water. It did not rain. The sun almost killed us.