Nairobi — Anxiety and sadness marked the arduous rescue mission of 13 people whose boat had been trapped in a lake weed for three days.

Kenya Air Force soldiers staged a dramatic rescue on Lake Victoria and saved the group marooned in the water hyacinth.

Flying low in a helicopter, the soldiers plucked three of the victims - including two women - from a boat five kilometres from the Homa Bay shoreline on Saturday evening and returned to rescue ten others on Sunday.

The helicopter rumbled over the lake in a determined endeavour to save the hungry and emaciated victims who had been surviving on raw fish and polluted water.

Rescuer-turned victim, Mr Jeremiah Owino, said they had just moved some of the victims in the trapped boat into their vessel when strong winds drifted them straight into a carpet of hyacinth.

"Things worsened for us after we ran out of fuel for our outboard engine. We fed on raw 'omena' fish and drank the polluted water as we waited for help," he said.

Anxious onlookers at one stage held their breath and prayed as the helicopter flew low over the boat.

"Ooh, no! It's going to land on them. God help us," one woman prayed amid the deafening rumble of the chopper.

But after several attempts, moods changed, giving way to song and ecstatic dance as the chopper finally rescued the victims . The rescue mission that began on Saturday brought business at he lakeside town to a near standstill after hundreds of the residents poured into the beach to witness the rare operation.

The victims - two women fish traders, five fishermen and their would-be rescuers - were rushed to the Homa Bay District Hospital looking frail and tired.

They were dehydrated and suffered from malaria and pneumonia after braving heavy rains, mosquito bites and hunger. Acting hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr Ojwang' Ayoma, said the victims were in stable condition.

Nyanza Deputy Provincial Police Officer, Mr Joseph Ashimala, Homa Bay District Commissioner, Mr Alois Lentoimanga, and the area OCPD supervised the breathtaking exercise.

The rescue mission took one hour.