Appledore RNLI in multi-agency search for missing person
Last night, Wednesday 8 November, Appledore RNLI joined the Police and Coastguard services in a five hour multi-agency search for a missing person in the Torridge Taw Estuary.
At approximately 9pm last night the volunteer crew from Appledore RNLI were requested to search for a missing person believed to have fallen off the Torridge [New] Bridge over the River Torridge between Northam and Bideford. The all-weather lifeboat Mollie Hunt, the inshore lifeboat Glanely, and the RNLI boarding boat were all tasked to join the coordinated search, together with Police and Coastguard helicopters, and a flood rescue boat from the Fire and Rescue Service. Coastguards, police and fire crew were also searching the shoreline.
As the tide was ebbing the thorough search mainly concentrated downstream from the Torridge Bridge, past Instow and Appledore, eventually as far as Bideford Bar. After five hours the Coastguard, who coordinated the rescue, called the search to its conclusion after nothing untoward had been found.
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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