Five European divers swept to sea off Komodo and feared dead found alive

The divers, three British, a French and a Swedish citizen, were exploring waters in the Komodo National Park, between the islands of Flores and Sumbawa, when they failed to return from a trip, according to an employee of Reefseekers diving center, which organized the expedition.

The divers went missing Thursday following a dive off Tawa Besar island, inside the Komodo National Park, which is notorious for strong "washing machine" currents.

A diving center employee said two groups had entered the waters, which are a popular draw for divers keen to explore an area of unspoiled coral reefs teeming with marine life, but only one returned.

When an initial search failed to locate the second group, authorities were alerted and police and rescue teams called in. The search of the area was called off at 3am local time and resumed at dawn on Friday. "It's a new moon so it's very dark out there," said Mr Lewandowski, who runs a turtle sanctuary and diving school with his wife on Flores, 250 miles east of Bali, told CNN

As he continued to search for the party 36 hours after they vanished, Mr Lewandowski said: "Time is critical. It's absolutely blistering hot out there. There were three boats out today searching. I was on a speedboat going around all the beaches and everything to see if they had washed up."

A local diver who works for Reefseekers told the Telegraph:

"It was a very strong current, going from north to south, so it may be that the divers have been swept out a long way and the local boat didn't find them because it's too far. It's also possible that they've been trapped in the eddies at the end of the island.

"At the end of the island there is a meeting current which creates turbulence and I have a big worry that the people got into trouble because of the turbulence. It's a washing machine current."

All five divers were experienced, but there is a strong current in the national park when there is a new moon. When the accident happened it was low tide and very, very strong."

Found
The divers were found drifting but alive on Saturday after have been missing for two days in treacherous waters east of Bali. Police in the Nusa Tenggara island chain said fishermen had located them south of the tiny island of Rinca.

"Fishermen found them floating in the water. They are all safe," Manggarai Barat district police chief Butje Hello told AFP.

Two month ago two British divers went missing after a dive off the Australian east coast. They were also later found after spending more than 20 hours drifting in open seas.