Teenagers caught in fog rescued on Sandymount beach
Three teenagers have been rescued after they became disorientated in heavy sea fog, while walking on Sandymount Beach in Dublin.
The girls called for help on their mobile phone when visibility suddenly dropped to about 100 metres and because of the incoming tide, they quickly found themselves surrounded by water.
The Dun Laoghaire lifeboat was launched at 6.22pm and all three girls were rescued.
The lifeboat crew were operating with only one hundred metres of visibility in front of them. Approximately ten minutes after the lifeboat crews had launched, the girls heard the noise from the shore based teams that were searching for them and they were able to answer them.
Dun Laoghaire RNLI’s inshore lifeboat was alerted to their position by the Coast Guard from the shore and lifeboat crews transferred the three girls onto the inshore lifeboat.
They were all extremely cold and were met at the lifeboat station by paramedics, to be assessed.
Commenting on the callout Dun Laoghaire RNLI Coxswain Mark McGibney said, ‘The teenagers were out for a walk when they were caught out by a rolling fog and a fast incoming tide. They lost their bearings and were quickly surrounded by rising water. Thankfully they stayed calm and called for help. Our lifeboats were launched in minutes and assistance was also given by the Gardaí and local Coast Guard. If they had walked in the wrong direction they could have quickly become out of their depth, instead they made the right decision and called for help. In this case thankfully it ended well.’
The Irish Coastguard is advising people to stay away from coastal areas where sea fog occurs.
