4 missing divers rescued by Coast Guard nearly 50 miles off Cape Fear after signaling ‘SOS’

Four divers stranded nearly 50 miles off North Carolina’s Cape Fear were rescued thanks to a well-timed “SOS” signal, officials said Monday.

The US Coast Guard Mid-Atlantic announced the successful mission on social media, sharing photos of the survivors being embraced by their visibly emotional relatives on a dock at dawn.

One of the lucky divers was photographed dropping to his knees and falling into the arms of a woman and a sobbing young boy.

The Coast Guard said it received a report Sunday that the four men who were diving from the pleasure boat Big Bill’s about 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at around noon, had not resurfaced, according to a press release.

The Coast Guard launched a search operation involving multiple aircraft, including an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, and three boats.

Shortly before 1 a.m., an HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Elizabeth City spotted a blinking light in the ocean signaling SOS, US Coast Guard 5th District spokesperson Jonathan Lally told CNN.

The crew launched a lifeboat from the back of the aircraft to the missing divers, and the Coast Guard had a ship pick them up 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River.

The rescued men were later taken to the Coast Guard Station Oak Island, where they were examined by medics who detected no injuries.

Having received clean bills of health, the divers were discharged and reunited with their anxious families, Lally told the news outlet.

It was not immediately known what happened to the men during their Sunday excursion. Their names have not been released.