Girl and her mother saved after plunge from ferry

A DRAMATIC rescue was undertaken in Belfast on Thursday night when a mother and daughter went overboard from a ferry.

As a Stena Line ferry approached the dock in Belfast Harbour at approximately 6.45pm, an alarm was raised that a woman and her 11-yearold daughter had gone overboard.

An emergency rescue operation was launched, and the mother and daughter were successfully recovered from Belfast Lough.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service confirmed that multiple vehicles were deployed to the scene of the incident just before 7pm.

The woman and young girl were rescued by emergency response crew on board the Stena Superfast VIII vessel, and were brought safely to shore. The girl was taken to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, and the woman was taken to the Emergency Department of Royal Victoria Hospital.

A spokesperson for Belfast Harbour Police stated: ‘Belfast Harbour Police are investigating an incident in which two females are believed to have entered the water in Belfast Lough, after going overboard from the Stena Horizon.

‘Both females were safely recovered from the water and taken to hospital by emergency services.’

A Stena Line spokesperson said the ferry company ‘is currently assisting with the various investigations now under way’ into the incident.