Sea survivor ‘too frail to travel home’

The Salvadoran man who says he spent more than a year drifting across the Pacific Ocean before landing in the Marshall Islands is too weak to travel and will remain in the island nation for a while.

By The Newsroom

Published 10th Feb 2014, 00:00 BST

Jose Salvador Alvarenga’s health was “very frail” and he will not return home until he is able to make the journey, Diego Dalton, an official with El Salvador’s embassy in Tokyo, said.

Mr Alvarenga, 37, washed ashore late last month. He was taken last week to the Marshall Islands’ capital, Majuro, where he has been resting at a hotel.

Mr Dalton arrived in Majuro late on Friday and met Mr Alvarenga and local officials.

“At this moment, there are no travel plans or definite itinerary,” he said. “His return will depend of when his health allows the long journey back.”

Mr Alvarenga’s spritely appearance on Monday while greeting hundreds of well-wishers in Majuro had many questioning his story.

But Mr Alvarenga looked much weaker on Thursday during a brief public appearance at the hotel.