A group of people had to be rescued from a freezing cold lake after their canoe boats capsized while on a team building exercise in Wales. The group of 16 had to be rescued after being plunged into the water at Lake Bala in Gwynedd.
One man who was on one of the boats but didn't want to be named said that the entire group ended up in the water after the windy conditions threw their vessel off sail. A recuse mission involving the police, ambulance service and fire service was called and eight people received treatment. Fortunately, all are fine.
He said that the exercise was for a company he works for and was organised by The Urdd and Glan Llyn. The incident happened at around 4pm on Thursday and it's claimed some members of the group were left in the freezing cold lake for around 45 minutes while help arrived. "It was too windy basically and we all ended up in the water," He said.
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"I had a phone on me in my top pocket so I rang for the police. We thought someone from Glan Llyn was coming to get us but there was no sign of them after 20 minutes so I just rang the police in the end."
He said that the boats carrying the group - which had been split up - all capsized, with two boats stranded in the water for 45 minutes. Some members left in the water were hanging onto the boats to stay afloat.
"Glan Llyn sent a rescue boat but only one. Then when a rescue boat did arrive that capsized as well, water got in the engine. We were split up as well and so the boats didn’t all sink in the same place," he said.
The lake is around 40m deep and is the largest natural lake in Wales at over four miles long and a mile wide at its widest point. The man said that while some started to panic at the time of the incident, fortunately everyone is fine.
"Everybody was in a bit of a panic but we tried to keep calm. Everyone was fine. At one point they [paramedics] thought two people had stage two hypothermia but they all recovered.
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called yesterday afternoon, Thursday 10 November, at approximately 4.02pm to reports of an incident at Bala Lake. We sent two emergency ambulances to the scene, where eight patients were treated and subsequently discharged."
A North Wales Police spokesperson said: "We were called at around 3.45pm yesterday (10/11) to report that a boat had sunk on Bala Lake, leaving seven people in open cold water. Another boat brought them to the shore and officers attended to confirm they were all safe and well and accounted for."
A spokesperson for The Urdd said: "The Urdd can confirm that a group of people got into difficulties whilst taking part in a supervised activity on Llyn Tegid yesterday afternoon. No one was injured and all group members are safe and well. Some members of the group were assisted out of the water by Urdd staff during the incident before they all returned to shore.
"North Wales Police, Fire Service and paramedics attended the Centre as they responded to a call by a member of the public. The Urdd staff followed the planned and appropriate actions which are in place to respond to an incident on the lake, and the group were all on the shore when the emergency services arrived. The Urdd are investigating the incident and thank the emergency services for their assistance."
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