Stranded woman found

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 6 (UPI) -- A 62-year-old woman has been rescued after being stranded for six days on a remote beach off Canada's British Columbia coast, officials said Monday.

The woman ended up on the beach on the west coast of Haida Gwai May 30 when the small skiff in which she and her partner were riding capsized, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. He is believed to have drowned.

Authorities had not released the pair's names.

The couple had anchored their larger boat in the area and had gone out in the small boat to go beachcombing when it overturned.

The woman swam to shore and it wasn't until early Sunday that the crew of a commercial fishing boat that had happened to drop anchor out in the bay spotted her fire.

"The fishing vessel reported what he thought was a flare," Jeff Olson of Marine Search and Rescue said. "She had made a fire on the beach and was throwing embers and such so she would be spotted."

The woman was in shock but able to talk and walk, the CBC said.

"She had survived on the beach for six days and was in remarkable condition," Olson said.

"There's not a lot of vessel traffic in the area, and if there is, they are not anywhere near the shoreline, typically."

The Vancouver Sun reported the woman survived on meager supplies that were on the skiff, including one orange, and drinking water from a stream.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was handling the drowning of her partner, said to be 66 or 67.