A spokeswoman at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base says rescuers from southern Arizona have reached two critically injured Chinese sailors whose boat sunk in the Pacific Ocean.
Sarah Schwennesen said today that a Venezuelan fishing boat found the sailors floating in a raft Friday afternoon after their vessel sank off the coast of Mexico. She says the sailors were burned in either a fire or explosion.
It's unclear how many other crew members were aboard the sunken Chinese boat or if there were fatalities.
Schwennesen says airmen from the 563rd Rescue Group treated the sailors yesterday and into the night. They will be hoisted onto helicopters today and flown to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, 1,200 yards east of the Venezuelan vessel. They will then be taken to a burn unit in La Jolla, California.
