Missing woman and teenager rescued after 15 hours in the sea - pair found clinging to a lobster pot off the Irish coast

The pair had gone missing for almost 15 hours while paddle boarding.

Last night an air and sea search rescue began and continued until their discovery.

The Irish coastguard and local volunteers were also involved.

The pair, aged 17 and 23, were found alive by a fisherman, about 17 miles from where they first set out, the RNLI said.

In a Tweet the Irish Coast Guard said: “Two Missing Paddle Boarders located and being transferred to the care of the HSE, search is now standing down, thank you to everyone that assisted in this SAR operation”.

They added: “The Irish Coast Coast Guard and Staff at MRSC Valentia would like to thank Helicopter crews from Shannon, Sligo and Waterford, RNLI crews and Coast Guard units for efforts to successfully locate and recover two casualties in Galway Bay the operation ongoing since 10pm last night”.

According to RTE the pair are well and are being treated at University Hospital Galway.

The pair went missing after setting out from a beach at Furbo, County Galway.

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