THREE TEENAGE GIRLS were rescued from Sandymount Beach this evening after getting into difficulty because of heavy fog.
The young girls were walking on the strand at about 6pm but became disorientated when a heavy fog rolled in. They were cut off by the incoming tide and surrounded by water. There was very little visibility and temperatures were dropping, according to the RNLI.
The girls called for help on a mobile phone after realising they were lost and surrounded by water on all sides.
The Dun Laoghaire inshore lifeboat was launched at 6.22pm with the all-weather lifeboat launching a few minutes later. Both the Gardaí and the Dun Laoghaire Coast Guard Unit joined in the search from the shore.
In a statement, the RNLI said its lifeboat crew was operating with only one hundred metres of visibility in front of them.
Within about ten minutes of the boats launching, the girls heard the noise from the shore-based teams that were searching for them and were able to answer.
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.
Coxswain Mark McGibney said the teens were lucky and commended they for staying calm and making the call.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
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