Watch: Girl rescued after being swept away into the sea by huge wave

Posting the video on social media, the North Devon Council in the UK has urged people to be mindful along the coast as “sea conditions can be changeable and volatile”

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Published: Fri 11 Aug 2023, 10:28 AM

A girl — swept away into the sea by a huge wave while she was playing at the Ilfracombe harbour on the North Devon coast in the UK — was saved by a bystander before the waves could drag her further into the water.

In the video of the incident last week, shared by the North Devon Council on Twitter, four children are seen playing on the slipway of the pier during high tide, with a girl standing close to the railing. A huge wave suddenly hits the girl who gets swept away into the water.

As she struggles to fight the strong ocean currents, a person rushes to her rescue and manages to pull her to safety.

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The incident took place on August 3 before 7 pm, according to the North Devon Council.

Posting the video, the North Devon Council urged people to be mindful along the coast as “sea conditions can be changeable and volatile”. The council also noted that the incident “could have been much more serious were it not for quick-thinking members of the public”.

“Thankfully those involved only suffered minor injuries, which were treated by Ilfracombe RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution),” the Council shared in a follow-up tweet.

“Playing around the slipway in volatile conditions, and activities such as tombstoning can be extremely dangerous and we urge members of the public to act safely at the harbour,” it added.

Harbourmaster Georgina Carlo-Paat called the incident a “serious reminder of the dangers of tombstoning and other high-risk activities in the harbour” and said that the four children were “lucky”. He added that they not only put their own lives in danger but also that of the “quick-thinking bystanders”.

“The sea conditions were very volatile and all of the youths had been knocked off their feet on the slipway prior to the incident, but still continued to run into surging waves. Thankfully the RNLI were on exercise in the outer harbour at the time and were able to respond very quickly and tended to their injuries before escorting them all home,” Carlo-Paat added.

The North Devon Council said that a bylaw prohibits people from jumping, diving and swimming at the harbour without permission from the harbour master. Jumping off the harbour can attract a fine of up to £1,000 (Dh4690) fine upon prosecution.

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