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River Foyle: 26 rescued after canoes capsizes | River Foyle: 26 rescued after canoes capsizes |
(35 minutes later) | |
Twenty-six people have been rescued from the River Foyle after two canoes capsized on Saturday afternoon. | Twenty-six people have been rescued from the River Foyle after two canoes capsized on Saturday afternoon. |
It happened on the river between Magheramason in County Tyrone and Carrigans in County Donegal. | It happened on the river between Magheramason in County Tyrone and Carrigans in County Donegal. |
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, the PSNI and the Irish coastguard were among those involved in the rescue. | The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, the PSNI and the Irish coastguard were among those involved in the rescue. |
Six people were airlifted to Londonderry's Altnagelvin Hospital where they are being treated for mild hypothermia. | |
Another 12 were taken by ambulance and the rest were treated at the scene. | |
The canoes capsized at about 14:00 BST on Saturday. | The canoes capsized at about 14:00 BST on Saturday. |
It is understood there was a heavy swell in windy conditions and both canoes began to take in water. | |
John McPoland, from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, said: "All services sprung into action very quickly and thankfully everybody was taken from the water. | |
"What we've found today is that our capacity to respond to such an incident was severely tested for all emergency services and it's a tribute to all the services involved that they were able to pull together so quickly and ensure there was no tragedies involved in today's incident." | "What we've found today is that our capacity to respond to such an incident was severely tested for all emergency services and it's a tribute to all the services involved that they were able to pull together so quickly and ensure there was no tragedies involved in today's incident." |
SDLP Foyle assembly member Mark H Durkan tweeted: "Just been at scene of major incident response at River Foyle, think everyone out of water ok. Well done emergency teams!" | SDLP Foyle assembly member Mark H Durkan tweeted: "Just been at scene of major incident response at River Foyle, think everyone out of water ok. Well done emergency teams!" |