In this May 3, 2014, image provided by the U.S. Air Force, a U.S. Air Force Airman parachutes into the Pacific Ocean to aid two critically injured sailors aboard a Venezuelan fishing boat. AP
SAN DIEGO, California—Two badly burned Chinese fishermen have been hoisted by United States Air Force helicopters off a Venezuelan skiff hundreds of miles off Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Major Sarah Schwennesen of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, says the two fishermen were airlifted Monday afternoon.
The fishermen were due to arrive at the University of California, San Diego’s regional burn unit Monday night. Pilots flew for nine hours to recover the fishermen.
The Venezuelan fishing boat reported finding 11 sailors floating in a raft Friday. Four sailors were badly burned and two later died of their injuries.
Airmen cared for the injured after parachuting into the water Saturday and using inflatable boats to reach the Venezuelan vessel.
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