Southsea hovercraft slipway 'incident' as woman, in her 40s, in 'life-threatening' condition at Portsmouth hospital

The ambulance service have confirmed a woman, in her 40s, was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham after being pulled from Portsmouth Harbour by lifeboat crews.

The incident happened near the Hovertravel slipway at Clarence Pier in Southsea She was brought from the water at Camber Dock unresponsive and was in a life-threatening condition.

Hovertravel has confirmed – contrary to national press reports – that its vessel Solent Flyer was not involved.

As the craft came ashore at Southsea this afternoon the ground team alerted the pilot about the woman in the water.

A company spokesman said: ‘Contrary to various media reports we can confirm that Solent Flyer was not involved with the incident involving a body in water but the crew were alerted.

‘As Solent Flyer landed at Southsea this afternoon, the ground team alerted the pilot about a body in the water, as per Hovertravel’s normal safety procedure. The pilot landed safely and the service is operating as normal.

‘The person has subsequently been recovered by the emergency services and the police are dealing with the matter.’

An HM Coastguard statement said multiple 999 calls were received about an incident near the hovercraft slipway in Southsea at 5.30pm.

It added: ‘Portsmouth coastguard rescue team, Gosport independent lifeboat and the search and rescue helicopter from Lee-on-Solent were sent, in addition to MOD Police vessels from Portsmouth Harbour and the South Central Ambulance Service.

‘A woman was pulled from the water and passed into the care of the ambulance service.

‘The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and Hampshire Constabulary have been informed. For further details, please contact the police.’

A South Central Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘The incident in Old Portsmouth earlier was in relation to a woman in her 40s who was found unresponsive in the water by the Coastguard and recovered to Camber Dock Lifeboat Jetty where they were met by our team comprising two ambulance crews, a paramedic team leader and an emergency doctor.

‘After initial treatment the patient was then taken to the Queen Alexandra Hospital where she was handed over to colleagues in the emergency department in a life-threatening condition.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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