Lucky escape after two adults and two children thrown from boat in Lough Derg

The four had been enjoying a boat ride on the lake when their power boat ran aground in shallow water south of Terryglass Harbour on the Tipperary shore.

They managed to raise the alarm themselves using a mobile phone which fortunately had not been lost overboard in the incident.

The Killaloe unit of the Coast Guard was alerted and requested to proceed to the area and commence a search.

A boat crew launched from Killaloe and raced to the scene while other volunteers travelled to the location by road.

On reaching the scene and locating the casualty vessel, the two adults and two children were transferred to the Coast Guard rescue boat.

It was then that rescuers were made aware that all four occupants had been thrown from their vessel into the lake.

The two children were showing signs of hypothermia so it was decided to alert the National Ambulance Service (NAS) and request paramedics to meet the rescue boat at Terryglass.

The four were wrapped in blankets while their vessel was taken on tow back to Terryglass where the Coast Guard land crew were waiting to assist.

The casualties were transferred to a Coast Guard vehicle where they were kept warm until ambulance paramedics arrived. An ambulance and rapid response vehicle were sent to the scene.

Once paramedics were satisfied that none of the four required hospital treatment they were transported back to their accommodation by the Coast Guard land crew and all units were stood down.

The rescue operation was coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard marine sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry.