The Guangzhou Maritime Safety Administration rescued 19 foreigners who were sitting in a raft waiting for help on the Pearl River estuary on April 17.

The staff of the naval patrol ship were informed by the Guangzhou Vessel Traffic Management Center that several people had been spotted floating on a life raft in the waters between the number 15 and number 17 light buoys during a patrol near the Qingzhou channel bridge at 10:15 a.m. on April 17. The management center also asked another vessel, Donggui No. 2, to help with the rescue efforts. 

The patrol ship helped the foreigners off the life raft and onto Donggui No. 2. The maritime safety authorities also required that the sampan and life raft left behind at the site where the foreigners were rescued be tied to the stern of Donggui No. 2 in order to prevent other vessels from running into them. 

Of the foreigners rescued, all were Pakistani except for two Indians. One foreigner explained that they had been sent to the waters near Hong Kong International Airport around 2 a.m. on April 17. The two people who sent them promised to send a sampan so that the foreigners would be able to get to shore. However, due to the sea conditions, this sampan only arrived at the number 15 buoy around 10 a.m.

For the time being, all the rescued foreigners have been handed over to the Shenzhen Public Security and Frontier Corps.