Two paddleboarders who were missing off the coast of Galway have been found alive.
A search operation was launched last night when the 23-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl failed to return to shore at Furbogh beach.
The cousins had been out paddleboarding off the coast of Furbogh, and were due back at 8:30pm.
Two Missing Paddle Boarders located and being transferred to the care of the HSE, search is now standing down, thank you to everyone that assisted in this SAR operation.
— Irish Coast Guard (@IrishCoastGuard) August 13, 2020
The Irish Coastguard helicopters, search and rescue boats and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in the mission.
This afternoon the two paddleboarders were found alive by a local fisherman Patrick Oliver and his son Morgan.
They had drifted almost 20 miles out and were found holding on to a lobster pot about two miles south west of Inis Oir.
Despite spending 15 hours at sea, the women did not require medical attention.
After disembarking from their rescue boar the cousins walked up the pier where they were medically assessed by Coast Guard personnel.
