Rescue mission fails as tide swamps digger rescuing truck
A digger that was sent to rescue a tipper truck stranded on a beach has been swallowed up by the sea after it also became stuck in the sand.
The rescue operation was being managed around the tides, and in the view of interested onlookers who gathered to witness scant entertainment in lockdown life, while police warned them that they should not stand and watch.
In what were described as ‘farcical scenes’, a second digger belonging to contractor MJ Church was sent in to try to save the first after it sank on the shoreline at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
The tipper truck was eventually saved from the incoming tide but despite rescuers’ efforts the orange digger was lost among the waves after the recovery mission had to be halted, according to the Daily Mail.
“Our ongoing recovery operation is being managed around the tides after a digger became stuck in the sand,” North Somerset Council told the Weston Mercury.
The contractors said that the first truck had been at the beach as part of an earthmoving team that were carrying out sand re-profiling works.
A spokesperson said: “Two vehicles moving sand on the beach got stuck – the larger vehicle was successfully recovered but the other one could not be retrieved before last night’s high tide.”
Images courtesy of SWNS.
Sadly an example of pure incompetence. Nothing to do with saving life. But the casual attitude of a contractor who had zero knowledge or respect for the environment. Very clear to see.