TWO AMERICAN TOURISTS were dramatically rescued last night after they became trapped in flood waters in their rental car.
The pair had been driving through the Burren National Park when, it appears, they took a wrong turn after being prompted by their satnav.
The drama began at around 7.30pm as the women were driving from the area of Mullaghmore Mountain back towards Ennis. It’s understood they were on their way to Dublin at the time.
After making the wrong turn, they drove through one flooded section of road at Ballinphunta without difficulty. However, a second flood proved impassable and their car soon became bogged down.
As the vehicle began to fill with water, the women opened the windows and sat out on the doors. They raised the alarm themselves by calling gardaí who in turn alerted the fire brigade.
The water was said to have been up to three feet deep where the car finally stopped.
Two units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Ennis station responded to a call of a car trapped in floodwaters with persons reported inside.
The directions provided to emergency services however very vague however and it proved difficult for rescue crews to located the car.
After locating the vehicle in an unlit section of country road, specially trained fire service swift-water rescue technicians (SRT) waded their way through the flood to reach the women.
After checking the casualties were unharmed, SRTs gave the women lifejackets, got them onto a raft and hauled them to safety.
Fire crews then recovered the car from the flood and found that it had suffered water damage inside. A tow truck was called to remove the vehicle while gardaí offered assistance by taking the women to Ennis to make arrangements for their onward journey.
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