'Mass casualty' emergency at Wales beach as kids raced to hospital

Two children were rushed to hospital after a "mass casualty" incident at a beach in Wales.

A major rescue operation was carried out by coastguards at Aberavon Beach on Sunday evening after the children got into "serious difficulty" in the sea off the slipway. Three of the youngsters were rescued after coastguardsdeployed a throw line. The others were rescued while in the water.

The coastguard described it as a "mass casualty" rescue. Police, ambulance crews and local volunteers were all involved in the huge emergency services operation. The casualties were rescued from the sea while Coastguard Rescue Officers carried out emergency care. The children were then transferred to the care of the ambulance service.

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The emergency response involved three ambulances. Two of the youngsters were taken to hospital while the other four made their own way there.

A spokesperson from HM Coastguard said: "HM Coastguard was tasked to co-ordinate the rescue of children in the water at Aberavon Beach yesterday, 24 August, at around 8:30pm.

"Port Talbot RNLI Lifeboat, Port Talbot and Porthcawl Coastguard Rescue Teams, Welsh Ambulance Service and South Wales Police were on scene.

"Port Talbot Coastguard Rescue Team rescued the children from the water and provided first aid until the Ambulance arrived."

A statement from Welsh Ambulance read: "We were contacted yesterday (24 August) at approximately 8:33pm, to reports of an incident on Aberavon beach, Port Talbot.

"We sent three emergency ambulances and one operations manager to the scene. Two patients were conveyed to hospital for treatment with a further four patients making their own way to hospital."

The rescue was the team's third water rescue of the summer, meaning nine lives have been saved to date.

Awarning has also been issued to people visiting a popular Welsh seaside resort this bank holiday after huge waves knocked people over, sweeping them onto boulders and causing injuries.

Volunteer lifeguards said people need to "take extreme caution" when visiting Rest Bay in Porthcawl over the coming days due to the huge waves and strong currents expected.