Laois Civil Defence rescue three Spanish tourists on Slieve Blooms

8 October 2021

Members of Laois Civil Defence was activated on Thursday evening, 7^th October to rescue three people in distress on the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

Three Spanish tourists, one of which is a wheelchair user, became lost in a part of the mountain. They had rented a car and had travelled into the Slieve Blooms near Clonaslee. When they ran out of tarmac road, they ended up on the track road. The trio travelled on this for about 10km before they became lost. They tried to turn their car to go back but it ended up slipping down a bank and into a drain. At that point they contacted emergency services for help.

Civil Defence was activated at approximately 8.15pm and as the three tourists had been in difficulty since 5.30pm it was important to locate them as soon as possible. The AA had been trying to locate them but were unable to do so.

The Laois Civil Defence mapping system technology was utilised to locate the whereabouts of the stricken three. Conditions were difficult as it was pitch dark and there was a heavy mist down but in spite of the poor visibility the volunteers succeeded in rescuing the three tourists at 9.45pm and also recovered the car from the drain.

Thankfully all are well.

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