A fisherman who was among six sailors to go missing when typhoon Francisco hit south China's Hainan Province returned alive -- almost 30 hours after he fell into the sea on Monday.

Ye Xiaobai, a native of Changjiang County, Hainan, was found lying unconscious on a seashore near Puqian Town in Hainan's Wenchang City, at 6:50 AM yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported today.

He was among eight people on a boat sailing from Zhuhai City in Guangdong Province to the Changjiang City in Hainan when the boat was flooded in Zhenmulan Bay, Wenchang at 2:30 AM on Monday.

Three people on board, Zheng Zhuoming, Ye Minghui and Wan Erru, survived the accident after they clinched the boat and floated to land, the report said.

Ye Xiaobai was said to have been pushed away by the waves to somewhere more than 1,000 meter away from the shore with Ye Mingge, a 13-year-old teenager on board, when the accident occurred.

As Ye Xiaobai was not wearing a life jacket at that time, he had to grab the teenager for a chance to survive, the report said. The two then clinched together, floated on the water and hoped that someone may come to their rescue, the report said.

However, the duo were driven apart by waves around 4 AM yesterday as both of them were worn out after having battled with the waves for almost 24 hours, the report said.

Ye Xiaobai, inspired by his astonishing will, finally managed to crawl back to the land after he has struggled at the sea for more than 30 hours without wearing a life jacket.

He soon passed out due to extreme exhaustion, the report said.

A villager later found him and took the feeble fisherman to a local hospital, the report said.

Ye Xiaobai is now out of danger.

"His strong desire for life and outstanding physical and psychological conditions helped him to achieve the impossible," a doctor told the Xinhua.

A search for the four other missing sailors is still under way, the report added.

(Shanghai Daily September 27, 2007)