Dramatic rescue of crew and 114 passengers off Ibiza

Newsdesk PALMA Maritime Rescue Service yesterday morning coordinated the rescue of 114 passengers and five crew members from the catamaran “Magic Uno”, which ran aground a little before midnight in the Isla Negra del Sur, situated between Ibiza and Formentera, according to sources from the Service. Once a call for help had been received from the catamaran, which is dedicated to leisure trips, the Marine Rescue Service sent one of its boats based on Ibiza to the scene. Also taking part in the operation were a group of Guardia Civil specialists from Ibiza, a group from the Red Cross, a Marine Rescue helicopter based in Valencia and the private boat Aphrodite. The priority was to rescue the passengers quickly as some of them had been injured when the boat ran aground. Once all the boats were on the scene, they began to transfer all the passengers to the Marine Rescue boat Illes Pitiuses and to the Aphrodite. This was done by the two inflatable boats of the Guardia Civil and the Red Cross. Meanwhile on land Ibsalut was mobilising to attend to the passengers once they arrived at the port of Ibiza. The transfer of the passengers was helped by the Marine Rescue helicopter. The work to try to refloat the catamaran, with a few of its crew still on board, was started as it got light.