Sinking into the mire, family rescued from drowning in mudflats by hovercraft

TWO Coastguard hovercrafts had to rescue a family who became stuck in waist-high mud while walking along a beach.

Four adults and a child were spotted calling for help on Uphill beach, near Weston- super-Mare, Somerset, on Sunday afternoon.

An urgent Coastguard operation was triggered to save the family before they were drowned by the incoming tide. Two rescue hovercrafts took four Coastguard personnel to the scene.

It was a busy day for the hovercraft crew, who later rescued another child from the mud.

A Burnham Area Rescue Boat spokesman said: ‘The group was given safety advice about the danger of the mud and checked over by paramedics before being released. The group of four adults and a child... had been enjoying a challenging walk and insisted they were in no difficulty.

‘Although this was the case, the concerns are that they had been out in very harsh heat without any water and the exertion of walking through the mud can lead to dehydration.

‘Even in this heat you can also become cold and possibly hypothermic due to sweating from the effort of walking and then stopping and being covered in mud, plus the windchill.

‘As our crews were preparing to leave, several further mud walkers were seen wading through mud near the Grand Pier, with the tide now incoming. A young child was flown from the tideline back to her relieved parents.’