Twenty-three tourists who were trapped for two days on the Dagong Island, in east China's Shandong Province, were rescued on Monday morning by the Beihai Rescue Bureau affiliated to the Ministry of Communications.

 

The 23 tourists, who formed a travel group via internet, set out in a rented boat to visit the island near the city of Qingdao on Saturday morning.

 

They planned to return at eight a.m. Sunday but could not board their boat because of stormy seas, said a female tourist called Sun.

 

"We were trapped on the desolate island and started to run out of food and water. What was worse, a sudden cold snap made us start to feel desperate," said Sun.

 

Beihai Rescue Bureau received an SOS signal at 7:32 p.m. Sunday and immediately launched a rescue operation.

 

The rescue ship tried to approach the island on Sunday night but failed because of heavy storms, said a bureau official.

 

At 8:40 a.m. Monday, rescuers managed to land on the island and had all 23 tourists on board the rescue ship in thirty minutes, said the official.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2006)