French father and two children rescued after 16 hours adrift off Thai island

A French family of three, consisting of a 50-year-old father and his two sons aged 5 and 7, were rescued after drifting for over 16 hours off the coast of Koh Samui, a Thai resort island. According to CBS News, they had rented a jet ski from a local operator on Thursday at around 5 p.m. local time, but failed to return at the set time, prompting a search effort by local rescuers and authorities.

The family was found on Friday at around 10 a.m. local time, with footage of the rescue showing the jet ski partially capsized and the family members wearing life jackets. The father was floating nearby while one of the boys was sitting on top of the jet ski. Rescuers provided them with water and helped them onto another boat.

The family was taken to a local hospital, where they were found to be pale and exhausted after swallowing a lot of seawater, but otherwise well, as reported by CBS News, citing a local government official. France 24 reported that the jet ski had capsized, leading to the family's ordeal.

Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, CBS News — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.