Abbas Nazari describes being rescued at sea during a storm. Sailors in orange jumpsuits evacuated refugees one by one using a stairway rig and wrist numbers to track them. Despite injuries, all 438 people were saved, including those with broken bones.
438
Christian Maltaud
No — not a single life was lost during the rescue operation.
Two sailors in orange jumpsuits. They climbed down the, you know, long staircase down. They jumped on top of our boat. Not many people could understand English or Norwegian, but, you know, we knew we were being risky. And one by one, one sailor at the bottom, one sailor at the top of the stairs kind of throws us to grab. And then we start walking up this kind of stairway to heaven, one by one. And I remember Ennis, he gets a mention. First Officer Christian Maltaud is the guy's name. You know, he did an interview after the whole ordeal and said it just felt like fishing. Throw it out. One by one. And the crazy part about this whole ordeal is that during the night of the storm, not a single person had been lost. There were injuries, incredible injuries, cuts, bruises, broken bones of people being tossed this way and that way. Not a single life was lost during the rescue operation. And at the top, another sailor was writing a number on our wrist to try and keep track of how many people that been rescued. Right. And the final number was 438.
