Edmonton police help with rescue of raft on English Channel
The Edmonton Police Emergency Communications Centre takes all kinds of calls for help, but one in January is being called a 'once in a career' type of call.
"I answered how I normally do, Edmonton Police Service, how can I help you," said Rebecca Stephen, an EPS emergency communications officer.
"A woman sounded pretty frantic over the phone," she said.
In the 911 call the woman asked for an emergency number for the United Kingdom.
"Sorry ma'am, I need you to just slow down a little bit okay? I'm going to get you some help but I just need to know what's going on," Stephen can be heard telling the woman in the call.
"So he's stuck between France and the U.K.?" Stephen asked.
"Yeah, yeah, the water," responded the woman. "Like in the middle of the U.K. and then France. There's like 50 people," the woman continued.
The woman's brother had sent her a message on Snapchat that said he was one of 50 people stranded on a raft somewhere between France and the U.K.
"She said my brother's on a raft somewhere on the English Channel, the waters are getting choppy, there's women and children there and they're all gonna die," said Stephen.
Stephen has dealt with calls for river rescues here in the city, but said this kind of call was a first, so she involved her supervisor.
"If you're reaching out to Edmonton and you're in the English Channel it must be quite serious and they're desperate so we took it to the next level," said Becky Morrison, a supervisor at the Emergency Communications & Operations Management Branch.
"There's 50 lives there and we need to make sure something happened," Morrison said.
They contacted the RCMP and Interpol. Morrison said the information they were able to get from the woman was used by the U.K. Border Force in their search of the English Channel.
About 12 hours after the initial 911 call, Morrison said they got an update from Interpol.
"The Interpol message that we received back did confirm that all 50 parties were safe in England, so they did get them across the Channel," said Morrison.
It's unclear why the woman's brother sent a plea for help across the pond instead of contacting emergency personnel that were closer.
"He might have been apprehensive, it was a raft of refugees so might have been scared to ask for help," said Stephen.
"Or it might have been the only way he could communicate was through the app he was using with his family," she added.
They don't know what happened to the 50 people after the rescue, but Stephen is just glad she was able to help.
"It's a happy ending which is all I can ask for," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6877535.1715120774!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Senior charged in shooting of teen on rural property north of Edmonton
A Sturgeon County man has been charged after he allegedly shot a teen over the weekend.
Altercation between 'numerous' golfers on B.C. course broken up by RCMP
Authorities broke up an altercation involving "numerous" golfers at a course in B.C.'s Lower Mainland over the weekend – an incident that was apparently prompted by serious breaches in etiquette.
'He was bigger than life': Former broadcaster Scott Boyd dies at 68
Former Breakfast Television co-host and radio broadcaster Scott Boyd has died at the age of 68.
Judge grants U of T injunction to clear pro-Palestinian encampment from downtown Toronto campus
An Ontario judge has granted the University of Toronto an injunction allowing it to clear out a pro-Palestinian encampment from its downtown Toronto campus
RFK Jr. says he has 'skeletons in my closet' after sexual assault allegation
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Tuesday he has 'so many skeletons in my closet,' when asked about an allegation in a Vanity Fair article that he sexually assaulted a former family babysitter.
Eastern Ontario doctor accused of killing four patients acquitted of murder charges, negligence
An eastern Ontario doctor facing four charges of first-degree murder and negligence causing death in connection with the deaths of four seniors at a Hawkesbury hospital was acquitted on all charges at the Ottawa courthouse on Tuesday.
Ontario police seize over $1M in cocaine, $300K in cash in major drug bust
Police in Cornwall, Ont. have seized approximately $1.3 million worth of cocaine and $300,000 in cash as part of a major drugs investigation.
Are fewer Canadians having children? We want to hear from you
Are you choosing not to have children? CTVNews.ca wants to hear from you.
NHL free agency shows teams in U.S. states with no income tax have an advantage
It's become difficult to deny the impact of favourable tax situations for teams around the NHL.