The boat from N. Landhoo which sank last week carrying passengers and cargo from Male’ City to N. Atoll has been salvaged.
The boat sank after wrecking on the K. Gaafaru reef on Wednesday, August 31.
Ahmed Rifah, a man from Landhoo who had been involved in salvage efforts, told Sun the boat was lifted to the surface at approximately 11:00 am Saturday.
“We used balloons. We managed to refloat the boat at approximately 11:00 am,” he said.
Rifah said they were now working on towing the boat to Gaafaru.
A team of 54 people from Landhoo had travelled to Gaafaru to salvage the efforts. They were joined by residents of Gaafaru, who, together, refloated the boat after three days of hard work.
Rifah commended Gaafaru residents for their cooperation.
The passengers and crew of the boat were rescued on a joint effort by police and Gaafaru residents.
They were hosted in the homes of Gaafaru residents.