Just after 15:00 on Sunday, August 23rd, the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Team were contacted by Gardai in Tipperary about an incident in the Galtee mountains. A walking group of five (an adult and four children) had gone walking to Lough Muskry, and on their way back down, two of the children found they were unable to cross a river that had risen by a few feet in a matter of minutes because of a localised cloud burst. The mountain rescue team were training on the far side of the Galtees and within 5 minutes of receiving the call, had sent two 4x4 vehicles and its new command and control vehicle, along with thirteen team members and a Search and Rescue Dog team to the incident. The team also contacted Irish Coast Guard to put a helicopter on standby if it was needed.
At around 16:15 the team located the walking group, one member of the team made his way across the swollen river and was able to secure ropes to the far bank. The children were then put into harnesses and, with safety ropes attached, were winched one at a time across the river to safety. The children were rewarmed, given food and then taken back to their car. Members of the rescue team said they had never seen this river in spate with that amount of water, lower down the river boulders were being moved by the force of the water.
The South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association (SEMRA) would like to thank everyone for their help in the rescue today, the Gardai, Search and Rescue Dog Association (SARDA), Irish Coast Guard, and its own members. We would also like to say well done to the adult and the children for doing all the correct things in the situation in which they found themselves.
Labels: Incidents