CPD, AFM and Red Cross called out to rescue French canoeists stuck in Mellieħa cave

Personnel from the Civil Protection Department, the Armed Forces of Malta and the Malta Red Cross yesterday rescued two French kayakers in an operation that lasted a number of hours after the pair became trapped in a cave in Mellieħa.

A CPD official confirmed that two people had paddled into a cave near l-Aħrax and become trapped inside. A CPD rescue boat was sent to assist but the rescue attempt was unsuccess- ful, as was a subsequent attempt by members of the Red Cross.

The AFM was eventually asked to help and the couple was saved by an AFM helicopter in what was a delicate operation.

Liane Gauci, who heard the couple scream for help and called the emergency services, was quoted as saying: “We saw a French couple in a canoe. The girl was having a panic attack, screaming and hitting the canoe and shouting for help. At one point she jumped off the canoe and held onto the rocks but we convinced her to get back in because she would have been crushed.”

The couple had entered the cave through the narrow entrance that had then become blocked by the crashing waves.

Other news footage shows an AFM helicopter winching rescue divers down into the water near the trapped canoeists.