Strong river current sweeps small children out to sea

Two young children were dragged out to sea by strong currents at a Cornwall beach. The two children were rescued after entering the water in a "dangerous" area on Porth beach in Newquay on Friday, June 14, quickly getting swept out to sea by the river.

RNLI lifeguard Jason Walsh noticed the pair, who had begun to panic and scream, and paddled out around 200m on rescue board to save them, the charity said. He was able to safely bring them back ashore, where they were reunited with their parents.

RNLI lead lifeguard supervisor for Newquay, Lewis Timson said Jason did a "great job" in responding quickly to the incident and rescuing the youngsters from the sea. As the summer season approaches, the water safety charity is urging beach-goers to remember to 'float to live'.

Mr Timson said: "We’d like to remind people that if you are planning to go into the water to follow the RNLI lifeguards’ advice, to always visit a lifeguarded beach and swim and bodyboard between the red and yellow flags as that is the safest place to do so."

With more people flocking to Cornish beaches as the weather warms, summer is a busy time for local lifeguards. The Newquay team shared details of two other major rescue operations on its Facebook page on June 14.

The group shared: "Our fantastic Lifeguards have been very busy recently and recognised for two major Rescues. Our Lifeguards from Watergate Bay worked with our Lifeboat colleagues and Coastguard Team to rescue 6 casualties from Whipsiderry Cove, we received a brilliant thank you card with a lovely poem from the casualties today.

"Our Mawgan Porth team also sprang into action as they arrived at the beach to an incident already unfolding and rescued a casualty before their shift had even started!"