Passengers see dramatic raft rescue from cruise ship balcony: 'Heart-wrenching experience'
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - A Port Canaveral-based cruise ship saved six men stranded in the ocean. It happened near the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, and people on board the Carnival Vista watched the rescue unfold from their balconies.
The cruise ship saved six people, and the U.S. Coast Guard saved six others who were drifting in the ocean. Passengers on board are still in shock, but thankful everyone is alive.
An orange life raft was nearly swallowed by the sea after a boat sank off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
Passengers came out to see the rough seas from their balconies and ended up seeing a rescue unfold on their vacation.
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"It was something we’ve never seen, and hopefully we don’t ever see it again," said Lacey Farrington.
She says the entire rescue took about an hour, and she wasn’t sure if they’d make it to safety.
"I was worried about it because the water looked like it kept getting closer and closer to the ring of the raft, and was like – I hope they get over here," she exclaimed.
The cruise ship rescued six people from the flimsy orange raft, but six others were still out there. Victoria Foster captured the others floating away.
"It was definitely a heart-wrenching experience," said Victoria Foster who was worried the others wouldn’t be saved.
The Coast Guard stepped in and was able to find and save the other stranded men using a helicopter and lift them to safety.
"It was a relief to know that they were safe. It was, that was all I was worried about," Foster concluded.
The men were taken to the hospital, and the coast guard says, all 12 survivors are doing okay after a terrifying ordeal in the ocean.
There’s still no official word on what exactly caused the men’s boat to sink in the first place. The coast guard says the weather was less than ideal for a rescue like this and credits training and hard work to the successful mission.