Drone rescue off Australian beach heralded as world-first

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A flying drone has dropped a flotation device to two teens caught in a riptide in heavy seas off the Australian coast in what officials describe as a world-first rescue.

Monty Greenslade and Gabe Vidler got into trouble on Thursday at Lennox Head, north of Sydney.

They were about a kilometer (1.6 mile) from lifeguards who were about to start training with the new drones, equipped with camera and rescue gear. Lifeguard Jai Sheridan says he piloted the drone to the swimmers and dropped a rescue pod minutes faster than lifeguards could have reached the pair by conventional means.

Greenslade says they were lucky the drone had been nearby.

It was the first drone rescue since the New South Wales state government last month invested in drone technology for rescue.

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