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Published:
August 9, 2006
Air
and sea search fails to find 'missing swimmer' in River Axe
A
major air and sea search was launched at Brean Down on Tuesday
night (August 8th) after a swimmer went missing after apparently
setting out to cross the fast-flowing River Axe estuary.
 A
man in his late teens is believed to have tried to swim from the
Brean side of the river across to Uphill on the Weston side.
Members
of the public onboard a nearby boat had earlier warned a person
seen in the water not to attempt to cross the river.
But,
minutes later, shouts for help were heard by the boat's occupants
and Coastguards were alerted.
Coastguards
from Burnham-On-Sea and two lifeboats from Weston rushed to the
estuary to conduct a full search of the area, but no-one was found.
 An
RAF helicopter from Chivenor in Devon was also called to the scene
to conduct sweeps of the river and the northern side of Brean
Down using infra-red imaging equipment.
A
dark coloured T-shirt was found next to the river's edge by one
of the Coastguard team, but it was unclear whether this was connected
to the incident.
The
two and a half hour search was called off for the night at around
8.30pm and a Coastguard spokesman said further searches of the
area would be conducted.
Helen
Hudson from Swansea Coastguard added on Wednesday morning: "We
received a call from people onboard a vessel in the River Axe
reporting that a male could be seen. They then heard cries for
help in the area a few minutes later, contacted us and a full
search was launched."
"We
have had no reports of persons missing overnight, but are fearful
that if someone was in the water they may have been into difficulties.
We take reports like this very seriously."
RELATED
LINKS:
Video of air and sea
search for missing River Axe swimmer
BBC
Online coverage of this story
Helicopter
rescues stranded yachtsman at River Axe
Family of three rescued after failed bid
to cross River Axe
Coastguards
rehearse River Axe mud rescue
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