Three rescuers injured in last week's training on Bay of Tallinn

Photo: Sander Ilvest

The Estonian Rescue Board has opened an investigation into an accident that happened during a sea rescue training on the Bay of Tallinn last week and in which three rescuers received injuries.

During the training last Thursday an incident happened on the Bay of Tallinn in the course of which two rescuers suffered grave injuries and one received light injuries, spokespeople for the Rescue Board said. The board did not disclose more details, citing the ongoing investigation that should establish the circumstances of what happened, nor did it comment on the severity of injuries.

According to unofficial information, a motor boat with participating rescuers ran into the wake of a large passenger ferry and the impact caused injuries to three rescuers. One of them reportedly sustained spinal injuries, another broke his toes and the third broke his fingers, but this information has not been confirmed. The injured rescuers work in different parts of Estonia. All three are at present incapacitated for work, spokespeople said.

The head of the Rescue Board's rescue works department, Heiki Soodla, said the board ordered the training from the Reval marine training center. «Any incident during training is not acceptable. Obviously somebody made a mistake and we hope the investigation will give an exact answer,» he said.

«What happened is that when the boat ran into cross waves three persons in it slipped and fell. The persons were wearing all the required rescue and safety equipment and they had been instructed about possible hazards. An investigation into the reasons of the accident is underway,» a representative of the training center said.