Man Survives 20 Hours In Shark-Infested Water By Clinging Onto Floating Wood

A man in Australia whose dinghy capsized in stormy seas miraculously survived by clinging to a piece of wood. The 31-year-old was eventually rescued Wednesday after floating for almost 24 hours in the shark-infested waters, reports said.

The unidentified man from Queensland, a state in northeastern Australia, was spotted floating in the Torres Strait between the Australian mainland and the Melanesian island of New Guinea, on Wednesday. The man was found holding on to a square piece of wood without any life jacket or safety measures, and was pulled to safety by the air rescue team, ABC.Net.au reported.

The rescuers rushed him to a hospital where he is recovering well, reports said. Officials describe the rescue as a "Christmas miracle".

"It's incredible. It's one in a million," Senior Sergeant Anthony Moynihan said. "To be floating in that water and knowing the creatures that are in there and to still be there some 20 hours later — he's an extremely lucky fella."

According to reports, the man started his journey Tuesday morning on a dinghy from Moa Island in Queensland to reach Warraber (Sue) Islet, around 37 miles away. About two hours into the journey, he contacted his family and updated them about his trip. However, the family lost contact with him later in the evening and reported him missing after he failed to reach his destination.

Based on the missing person report, Queensland Water Police and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) initiated the search Tuesday night but it was called off due to bad weather.

"It was blowing about 40 knots and was really blustery and stormy, so that hampered the search and rescue efforts," Moynihan said.

The search restarted the next morning and involved several agencies including water police vessels, Border Force helicopters, and local volunteers. The overturned dinghy was eventually located. Further search in the area led them to the man who was found floating around seven nautical miles away from the boat.

"He's in really good spirits and not suffering from any serious conditions," Moynihan said adding a warning to people about the use of safety measures in water. "Enjoy yourselves but just make sure you get enough safety equipment," he said, as reported by NY Post.