Two junior high school boys were rescued after they became stranded on a reef off Ishigaki Island.

Officials at Ishigaki Coast Guard received an emergency call about 20:10 on Aug. 1st reporting two junior high school boys stranded on a reef off Miyara Bay. The boys had sent a message on a cell phone to their parents from the reef saying they needed a rescue. A Coast Guard helicopter dispatched to the area spotted the two about 400m off shore about an hour and 20 minutes later, and the parents picked up the boys in their boat.

The two boys are friends and went fishing together. As the night approached, they tried to walk back to the coast, but the tide had shifted and they got stuck.

According to Okinawa Metrological Agency, 4-meter high waves were expected in the area on Aug. 1st because of passing typhoon Nida, and a high spring tide was affecting the area on the same day. The highest ebb off the tide on Aug. 1st was recorded at 18:38.

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