Teens lost at sea on paddleboards have been found alive on an island 12 miles away

Four teenagers who spent the night lost at sea on inflatable paddleboards miraculously survived after being washed up on a tiny island.

Two men and two women aged 18 and 19 celebrated the completion of their final exams at Rosebud Beach on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia, yesterday afternoon.

But they got caught in strong tides on their paddleboards and were swept away with the tide.

A search was launched and the worst was feared after the group’s bags and belongings were found abandoned on the beach around 8pm.

But Terence Rowlands of Victoria Police said the group was found on Swan Island just after 9am this morning – around 20km from their original location.

‘You [the teens] were very cold and very relieved to be on land,” he told reporters.

“Luck has a lot to do with it.”

He said they were found by accident during a “routine walk” by security forces around the island, which is on the opposite side of Port Phillip Bay.

All four teenagers, who live in the Glen Waverley area of ​​Melbourne, suffered no serious injuries but two were airlifted and the other two driven to hospital.

Video footage showed a woman wrapped in a blanket being carried to an ambulance. It is unclear whether they were wearing life jackets.

Acting Inspector Ian Pregnell told 3AW of the reaction when the teenagers were found: “It’s been a pretty emotional time for the families, all too often these things usually end in tragedy so you could say this is a Christmas miracle.”

The search had to be suspended for a few hours from 4 a.m. due to difficult conditions in the area.

Gone Fishing Charters director Chris Vasilevski said the wind was 46 km/h at the time.

“The east wind in this area is probably one of the worst because there is no protection at all,” he also told 3AW.

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