Rescue pilots also said they were seeing many empty rafts, raising the possibility that their occupants had drowned.

Only an empty yellow raft was in sight in the lit-up area.

An empty raft crossed our path, heading back for the east bank.

But we were puzzled about the empty raft and came down to examine it.

And an empty raft filled with debris and salvaged possessions floated around aimlessly.

An empty raft drifted by carrying a turkey-sized "spitter" dinosaur: It reared up and spat at us!

They sighted an empty raft, paddled to it and redistributed themselves between the two rafts, then lashed the two together for the night.

They paddled to the empty raft and lashed the three rafts together, but the raft with the five survivors was too far to reach.

The woman floating below carefully positioned an empty raft underneath him, and he dropped into it with hardly a splash.

Garibaldi came down next, and the young woman expertly guided the last empty raft underneath him.