This afternoon, the Firefighters of Funchal tried to rescue a dog that was still trapped in the rubble, after Saturday’s rockfall trapped three people, and their pet in a cave adjacent to their kitchen.
An emergency service source confirmed to JM that the dog is still alive.
Later this afternoon it was confirmed that the dog has been rescued and taken to a place of safety. The reason for the delay in searching for the dog, says the Commander of the Sapadores do Funchal, José Minas, was due to safety reasons, saying that he wanted to set the record straight and end the speculation with regards to the dog.
“Regarding the rescue of the canid that was trapped in an air pocket, and to avoid further speculation, this Command confirms that the animal was found alive and sent for appropriate care. We did not carry out the operation previously because we needed to complete a technical assessment of the conditions of the site, to avoid the possibility of any danger to the rescue team. It was also necessary to plan and correctly execute the clearance maneouvers. To the women and men from the 2nd Section of the CBSF and to the Civil Protection Municipal Service, my thanks, for their hard work and dedication to duty.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
Photo: Facebook – Sapadores
