25/01/2010

Youths Rescued From River

Two 'lucky' youths have been rescued from a Lancaster river after heavy fog hampered efforts by emergency services.

The boys went into the water near Skerton Bridge, which fords the river near Ryelands Park.

The alarm was raised by Lancaster Police who were pursuing the youths. At just before 9pm on Friday officers saw one of the individuals go into the water.

Morecambe RNLI inshore lifeboat and hovercraft launched from Snatchems further down the river. The fog at the time meant visibility was only around 20 to 50 foot.

Communications due to low water and the area also hampered the search.

At around 9.20pm one of the youths was seen clinging to the bridge and the other was still missing.

The youth hanging on to the line beneath the bridge was recovered safely.

By 10pm the second boy had been recovered and taken to an ambulance covered in mud.

He had jumped from the bridge and managed to get across the river somehow to the other side of Skerton Bridge.

He had then negotiated the mud by clinging on to the wall until he could get a grip of something secure to hold.

Ged Lynch, Duty Watch Manager at Liverpool Coastguard said: "With the very thick fog in the area and the way it deadens sound these two characters are very lucky to come out of this experience alive tonight.

"Hypothermia can kill and kill very quickly. If the search had gone on into the night, we would have been unable to use a helicopter, as the fog was too dense to see through - even using infra red glasses - and the lack of visibility would have also been a threat to the pilot and crew."

(PR/GK)

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