A 26-year old man from Birzebbugia was early this morning rescued from drowning by Armed Forces of Malta rescue personnel, at Wied ix-Xaqqa in the limits if Kalafrana.

At around 7am, an eyewitness to the man’s plight in the cold sea notified Police headquarters, who in turn alerted the AFM’s Rescue and Coordination Centre at Luqa Barracks.

Further to contacting the passerby who luckily spotted the man in the water, the AFM immediately dispatched its Maritime Squadron’s fast sea-rescue launch Melita-2 and an Air Wing Alouette rescue-helicopter to the scene.

The rescue crew of helicopter Alpha-Whiskey 15 successfully rescued the man from the water, and once stabilised onboard he was found by the AFM rescue-swimmers to be already suffering from hypothermia. The casualty was immediately evacuated to Mater Dei Hospital’s emergency department for further treatment.

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