Incident Report #7 2004

The team was asked to assist in a major operation to find and rescue a large number of cockle pickers from the sands in Morecambe Bay. They had been caught by a fast advancing tide. A number of people made their own way to safety, several were rescued, but tragically nineteen drowned. The team sent vehicles, personnel, search dogs and specialist radio equipment. On 15th February another body was located on the sand near Morecambe. One of the problems encountered at the time was that nobody knew how many people were out on the sand. A twenty-first body was subsequently located in early summer.