Invergordon lifeboat in cliff rescue drama
TWO stricken teenagers used the torches on their mobile phones to guide rescuers to their clifftop location.
Invergordon RNLI lifeboat was launched on Tuesday evening after a report of two girls stranded on a cliff, having been cut off by the tide while they were out walking.
The seven-strong crew launched at 9.05pm to search the cliffs near Balintore.
Aberdeen Coastguard also requested the launch of coastguard helicopter and local units to assist.
The lifeboat made its way up the moonlit Cromarty Firth and began the search just north of the Nigg Jetty, along the rocky shoreline towards the Three Kings area.
During radio conversations with Aberdeen Coastguard it was requested that if the teenagers had a mobile phone, to enable the torch function to aid the search.
The crew quickly identified a bright light about 50 metres up the cliff face and directed the helicopter to the location, where the girls were winched to safety.
The girls, in their mid-teens, had embarked on a walk to The Well of Good Health.
They were uninjured and were landed in Balintore where a coastguard team was waiting.
Invergordon Lifeboat spokesman Michael MacDonald said: "It was a swift and well executed rescue, helped by the girls illuminating their location using mobile phone lights to attract the rescue crew."
