Stranded students use phones as beacons to guide rescuers
London school students who were trapped on a beach in Kent were rescued by helicopter and lifeboats after they used their mobile phones as beacons.
The 34 teenagers and two adults were rescued and taken to safety after they got lost and became disoriented during a coastal walk between St Margaret's Bay and Dover Harbour.
In a video released by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the students can be seen waving through a night-vision camera.
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The coastguard launched a rescue operation after the teenagers raised the alarm with Kent Police at 9 p.m.
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The 40-volunteer strong operation included a helicopter based at Lydd, the Dover RNLI lifeboat, two Walmer RNLI lifeboats and the Langdon coastguard rescue team.
UK Coastguard Senior Maritime Operations Officer Richard Cockerill said in a statement: "The group was advised to switch on their mobile phone lights to help us locate them. The group was located by one of the Walmer lifeboats in an area of active cliff falls and also spotted by the helicopter using the forward looking infra red (FLIR) camera. All 36 people were recovered to safety by lifeboat and helicopter."
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The RNLI charity arrived at the scene but found that four students were unaccounted for. The missing teenagers were located on the rocks, picked up by a lifeboat and taken ashore.
"The FLIR camera was working fantastically so we were able to locate the group quickly," Alex Brown, winch operator for the UK Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Lydd, said.
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The Coxswain of Dover RNLI, Mark Finnis, said: "The group were caught out by a rising tide. Thankfully the quick and well co-ordinated search and rescue response meant all 36 casualties were rescued and were lucky to escape without serious injuries, but they've had a traumatic experience."
UPDATE: June 7, 2016, 10:59 a.m. BST Added video.
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