TWO people stranded for a week on a remote Pacific island have been rescued after a search aircraft spotted their SOS message in the sand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday.

    The couple, who had “limited supplies and no emergency equipment,” were found on uninhabited East Fayu island in Micronesia by a U.S. Navy air crew, who discovered them on the beach near the makeshift sign, according to the coast guard statement.

    The search team was responding to reports that someone on the island was using a flashlight to attract attention when they saw the survivors, the statement said.

    “The search and rescue operation for Linus and Sabina Jack has been successfully completed,” the U.S. Embassy in Kolonia, Micronesia, posted on its Facebook page.

    “Since the island was potentially uninhabited and knowing (they) had a flashlight in their boat, we directed our search aircraft to overfly the island.”

    The couple had set out from Weno Island in Micronesia in a 5-meter boat Aug. 17, but the alarm was raised when they did not arrive at Tamatam Island the following day as expected.

    (SD-Agencies)