Powerful winds in Ukraine blew a baby stroller—and the 3-year-old strapped inside—into the frigid waters of the Black Sea, sparking a commotion that saw the child’s mother and a passerby dive in to mount a rescue.
In yet unexplained circumstances, a stroller with a small child strapped into it plummeted off a pier by Odessa’s Arcadia beach and into about 10 feet of cold water.
Eyewitness Vasily Buscharov told BBC Ukraine he saw a man take his clothes off and dive into the choppy sea.
He said about thirty seconds later, he saw a fully-clothed woman being pushed back up on the pier, followed by the child.
“They were alive and conscious, the child stood on his feet,” said Buscharov, according to the BBC. “Then a man rose up to the pier from the water.”
Ukrainian emergency services confirmed the incident but were unable to provide details as no rescue crews had been dispatched to the scene.
Couple and Dogs Rescued After Two-Week Mountain Ordeal
In another recent life-threatening incident, members of the U.S. Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) tactical squad and sheriff’s deputies rescued two California campers and their dogs, trapped by snow for two weeks in the mountains near Los Angeles.SEB normally specializes in high-risk tactical operations involving hostage situations or aerial assault, but on Jan. 23, the unit used a helicopter to rescue the stranded couple and their two dogs.
Tactical medics of the unit’s Emergency Services Detail took part in the rescue operation.
“Campers just rescued after snowed in their vehicle for 14 days, Alamo Mountain,n/w of Castaic,” wrote SEB in a tweet.
“I think they were thinking the snow was going to melt a little quicker than it did and that’s why they were waiting it out,” Charles Miranda, a paramedic with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, told FOX11.
But after two weeks, the campers ran out of supplies.
“They had fuel for the stove to melt the water, but then they ran out of fuel,” Miranda told FOX11. “They were thirsty because they weren’t able to get water out of the snow.”
Miranda said the couple hiked for several miles to find a location where they had cell phone coverage, and called 911.
“We were able to locate their latitude and longitude,” he said.
A helicopter flew in SEB members and sheriff’s deputies, with the SEB posting several photos of the rescue on their Twitter feed.
“We work and train as a team together and it makes rescues like this rather routine,” pilot Jim Wolfhope told FOX11.
The crew brought the couple and dogs to safety. While uninjured, the couple was reportedly tired, hungry, and dehydrated.