Russian border guards save Estonian girl from drowning on Narva River

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Photo: Elmo Riig / Sakala

An Estonian girl was saved from drowning on Narva River on Tuesday evening by Russian border guards who were forced to illegally cross the border in order to do this, Russian news agency Interfax said.

The crew of a Russian border guard speedboat saw a canoe with two persons aboard capsize near the Estonian shore of the border river. One of the persons managed to swim to the shore but the other got stuck in water plants and was in danger of drowning.

«The chief of the Russian patrol took the decision to go to the drowning girl's aid in connection with which it was necessary to violate the border and invade Estonian waters by approximately 30 meters,» spokespeople for the Russian border agency said.

The girl was lifted aboard the border guard boat together with the canoe. She said she was born in Narva in 2000 and was a citizen of Estonia.

The border guard division in Ivangorod on the Russian shore of the river immediately notified the Estonian authorities about the incident and the girl was together with the canoe officially handed over to the Estonian side, spokespeople said.

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