The U.S. Coast Guard is helping search for six young people from the Pacific island nation of Kiribati who went missing in an outrigger canoe last week. 

The Coast Guard said today the six were collecting palm leaves for roofing when they went missing off the west coast of Tarawa. They include two men, age 19, and four girls ages eight, nine, 12 and 14. 

A turboprop plane and search and rescue team from Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii arrived at the scene Tuesday.

The young people were last seen at 8 p.m. Thursday, Hawaii time. Local fishermen spotted the canoe adrift and swamped on Saturday. The Republic of Kiribati asked for help from the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday.

Kiribati is about 2,300 miles southwest of Hawaii.