More tests for ‘modern day Crusoe fisherman’

A fisherman who says he spent more than a year drifting across the Pacific Ocean before finally making landfall in the Marshall Islands has gone back to hospital for more tests.

By The Newsroom

Published 6th Feb 2014, 17:35 BST

Jose Salvador Alvarenga made a brief public appearance yesterday looking much weaker than he did earlier in the week. He was greeted by about 50 officials and media at the Marshall Islands Resort hotel where he is staying.

Sporting a haircut and a shave, he was helped into the room by two people while others stood by ready to help.

Speaking in a low voice, he thanked the government and his friends for their help, but declined An official at the event said: “He walked in but he needed a lot of help. I would say he made an impression that is really now far more consistent with the journey he said he made. He was much weaker.”