PLUCKED TO SAFETY

DIVERS BROUGHT TO SAFETY BY RNLI AND COASTGUARD IN DRAMATIC SEA RESCUE OFF THE WEST SLIGO COAST

EIGHT divers were dramatically rescued off the West Sligo coast after their boat capsized on Sunday morning.

Sligo Bay RNLI lifeboat was already out on a routine training exercise when it got a call at 11.25am from the Coast Guard following a mayday call at 11.24am about men in the sea off Aughris Pier.

Sligo Bay RNLI lifeboat arrived at the scene at 11.43am and three crew rescued all eight people from the water with one man who had suffered a head injury being airlifted to Sligo University Hospital by the Sligo based-Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 118 which had diverted from Blacksod, County Mayo where it was taking part in the search for the three missing crew members of Rescue 116 which crashed in the area in the early hours of last Tuesday morning.

The remaining seven men were taken to Aughris Pier where one person was subsequently taken by ambulance to hospital.

Following the rescue the lifeboat crew returned to the scene to tow the vessel the men had been in back to the pier ( above, right).

It is understood the men were all part of a sub aqua club based in Leitrim and were regular divers off Aughris Pier.

It is understood they were close enugh to shore when the boat capsized and the alarm was raised immediately from shore.

Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Willie Murphy said: “In what has been a difficult week with the loss of Rescue 116 and the ongoing search for her crew, Sunday morning’s callout shows that the professionalism and dedication of the search and rescue community remains unchanged. The RNLI crew at Sligo Bay along with their colleagues at Rescue 118 were on scene minutes after the call for help was raised and rescued eight people from the water.

“Our thoughts are with the man who was airlifted to hospital and with our colleague still searching in Blacksod Bay for the three missing crew member of Rescue 116.” A book of condolence ( above) in memory of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick who lost her life in last week’s tragic incident off the County Mayo coast has been opened at Sligo Airport in Strandhill where the Coast Guards Rescue 118 helicopter and crew are based.