‘Lost at sea while selflessly trying to save another’. A female member of the Irish Coast Guard has died and two of her volunteer colleagues have been rescued from the water at Kilkee, Co. Clare this afternoon after the RIB they were on board overturned in a heavy swell.
The crew were searching for a missing man when the tragedy occurred. There were two female and one male volunteers on board the boat at the time, and they were from Kilkee and Doolin Coast Guard units.
The Department of Transport has confirmed that one member of the RIB crew, a woman, has died.
One female member was rescued from the water while the second female who was also taken from the water died a short time later. The male crew member was pushed into a cave and was said to be unreachable by rescuers on land, sea or air.
The crew were involved in an ongoing search for a man missing from Lisseycasey, when their rigid inflatable boat (RIB) flipped over in a heavy swell near the cliffs at Kilkee.
A major search operation got under way following the incident, which involved another units and the Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopters from Shannon and Waterford.
Efforts were made all afternoon to rescue the third crew member and just this evening, shortly after 5.30pm he was rescued alive from the cave and airlifted to hospital by helicopter.
Emergency Times wishes to join all other services in extending our condolences to the family and colleagues of the volunteer crew member who sadly died in this tragic incident, and we wish the two injured crew members a full and fast recovery.
