An 11-year-old boy who went missing after skipping school was found adrift at sea on a large polystyrene slab, sparking a major rescue operation in Taiwan. The child, identified only by his family name Tsou, had failed to attend classes on Tuesday morning, prompting his teacher to contact his parents. When they could not be reached, authorities issued a missing-person alert.
Welfare Visit and Search
Tsou had previously been flagged by social services as coming from a vulnerable household, leading to a welfare visit to his home. Despite repeated knocking, no one answered, and police escalated the search. Later that afternoon, a fisherman spotted the boy bobbing in the water at the mouth of the Zhonggang River off Zhunan Township, perched on a piece of polystyrene. The fisherman immediately alerted authorities, and coastguard personnel rushed to the scene, successfully bringing the child safely ashore.
Rescue and Reunion
After the rescue, officials contacted Tsou's father, who works in Hsinchu, and arranged for him to pick up his son. Preliminary investigations suggest Tsou may have traveled alone from nearby Houlong Township to the coastal area to play. The exact details and his motives are still under investigation. The Miaoli County Government's Education Department has stepped in to provide counseling and assistance for both the boy and his parents.
Similar Incident Two Years Ago
This incident echoes a similar event from two years ago, when a young child was found trapped inside a large inflatable bubble drifting at sea off Lazaro Beach in Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Rafael Graça do Prado, then 32, was on a boat trip with his children when he spotted the transparent bubble bobbing in the waves with an eight-year-old boy inside. The child had been playing with his parents on the shore, but the rope tethering the bubble broke, causing it to drift out to sea. Rafael worried about the boy's oxygen supply and calmed him down until help arrived.
