A frightened young boy was discovered adrift in the ocean on a large piece of polystyrene a day after he didn’t show up at school. The 11-year-old student from a vulnerable family was absent from his primary school on Tuesday, prompting his teacher to contact his parents, who were unresponsive. Social services had previously identified the boy, Tsou, leading to a missing-person alert when no one answered the door during a welfare check.

Later that day, a fisherman near the Zhonggang River in Taiwan spotted Tsou floating on the polystyrene block and alerted the authorities. The coastguard successfully rescued Tsou and contacted his father, who came to collect him. Initial investigations suggest Tsou may have traveled alone from a nearby town to the seaside for recreation.

The circumstances behind Tsou’s ocean drift are still under investigation, and the Miaoli County Government’s Education Department is providing support and counseling to Tsou and his family. This incident recalls a similar event two years ago when a young boy was found inside a floating bubble off Lazaro Beach in Ubatuba, Brazil, by a concerned sailor.