Major Search for Teenagers Missing in a Dinghy
At half past nine this evening Wednesday - MRCC Forth was alerted by a 999 call from a worried mother reporting her 14 year old son and another teenager may have been swept out to sea in a small dinghy. Subsequent 999 calls from other worried parents confirmed that there were 3 children and a 53 year old man in a six foot craft who had left Pease Bay at six o'clock.
Dunbar Coastguard Rescue team were sent to the scene as were the Dunbar RNLI all-weather and inshore lifeboat who were all returning to station from a previous incident. St Abbs inshore lifeboat, Eyemouth all-weather lifeboat and Eyemouth Coastguard Rescue team were also called out to assist. A rescue helicopter was also requested to scramble.
A Coastguard Rescue Officer, whilst traveling to a vantage point came across three teenagers walking on the main road between Coldingham and Pease bay - who confirmed that they had been out in a dinghy. They also told the officer that the man they were with, was down the cliffs but was unable to climb up.
Simultaneously, St.Abbs lifeboat reported that they had located the vessel on the rocks and seen the man half way up the cliff. A decision was made to airlift the casualty to the cliff top where he was assessed by an ambulance crew.
This was a search which, given the time and conditions required deployment of units quickly to the search area. The seaworthiness of the 6 foot rigid inflatable with an apparently very unreliable outboard engine and defective oars was brought into question, even though the adult was wearing a lifejacket and the 10 14 and 15 year old were wearing wet suits.
Simon Smart, Watch Manager said:
Survival time in the North Sea at this time of year is minimal at best, even with survival aids. The vessel was ill equipped for such a trip to sea, even close to the coastline. This incident could have very well had a different outcome.
Press releases and further information about the Agency is available on the Web at http://www.mcga.gov.uk
Published on: 2008-06-26
Limited copyright is granted for you to use and/or republish any story on this site for
any legitimate media purpose as long as you reference 7thSpace and any source mentioned in the story above. Please
make sure to read our disclaimer prior to contacting 7thSpace Interactive. To contact our editors, visit our online helpdesk. If you wish submit your own press release, click here.
Social Bookmarking
Digg this! | Post to del.icio.us | Post to Furl | Add to Netscape | Add to Yahoo! | Rojo
|
|
