Man rescued after drifting 25 miles in river

WUHAN - Authorities in Central China's Hubei province said they had rescued a man who had drifted in the Yangtze River for four hours after accidentally falling into the water.

The man clung to a life buoy while he drifted for 25 miles before being rescued near a port in Wuhan, capital of Hubei, the municipal maritime safety bureau said Monday.

Officials said the man fell into the water at a sandbar at about 8 pm Sunday but luckily found a life buoy in the water. After being carried by the water for over three hours, his cries for help got the attention of the crew on a nearby ship at about 11:30 pm.

After receiving the report, the bureau immediately sent rescuers to the site, and they pulled the man out of the water around midnight and gave him a quilt and hot noodles.

The local newspaper identified the man as 25-year-old Chen, who fell into the water while fishing. It cited rescuers as saying his survival was "very, very lucky."