search and rescue news stories on Newser

Missing Woman, Cat Found After Month in Forest

Rob Quinn — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 04:32:00 CST

A woman who had been missing for nearly a month was found starving but still alive in New Mexico's Gila National Forest. Search crews say 41-year-old Margaret Page was stranded in the forest for weeks, surviving on creek water and the food she had brought with her, and lost close...

Divers Rescue Teddy Bear From Costa Concordia

Kevin Spak — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:34:05 CST

At this point, dives into the Costa Concordia wreck usually involve recovering bodies, but divers recently got a break from that grim task for a more bittersweet rescue operation: recovering a little boy's teddy bear. The mayor of Giglio asked the divers to find the bear after seeing a letter...

Rough Seas Curb Costa Search

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:07:28 CST

Rough seas delayed efforts to search and salvage the Costa Concordia cruise ship near Italy's Tuscan coast today, MSNBC reports. Rescue divers, who have found a 17th body on board, made for shore to await better weather conditions. The high winds also postponed plans to start extracting 500,000 gallons...

William in Frantic Sea Rescue

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:40:25 CST

He didn't exactly ride in on a white horse, but Prince William was among the British rescuers who plucked two Russian sailors from their sinking vessel early this morning, reports the BBC . The Swanland, laden with 3,000 tons of limestone, began taking in water when its hull cracked off...

Rescuers Pull 3 More From Rubble in Turkey

Matt Cantor — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:32:46 CDT

The death toll from Turkey’s earthquake has reached 461, but rescue work continues: Rescuers pulled an 18-year-old student and two young teachers from the rubble today, days after the earthquake struck. Tiny cameras on sticks helped rescuers find the student, the AP reports. In other good news, the 2-week-old baby...

Hikers Swept Into Yosemite Falls

Mary Papenfuss — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:30:00 CDT

Rescuers are continuing to hunt for hikers believed to have been swept into the thundering Vernal waterfalls in Yosemite National Park. Several witnesses called for help after spotting a man and woman climbing over a waterfall safety rail, reports KSEE 24 News . The couple appeared to be encouraging their children...

Children's Bodies Found in Volga River Disaster

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:00:05 CDT

A tragic confirmation from the Russian Volga river disaster : Divers searching the sunken cruise ship discovered the bodies of about 50 people, mostly children, in one of the ship's recreation areas. The children were known to have been brought to the interior area minutes before the ship went down on...

41 Dead, 80 Missing After Russia Cruise Ship Sinks

Matt Cantor — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:02:42 CDT

The numbers are getting worse: 41 people, including five children, are dead, with more than 80 still missing after an overpacked cruise ship sank on the Volga River in Russia yesterday afternoon. An official now says the Bulgaria was carrying 208 people—far more than the 120 it was licensed...

Air France Searchers Recover 75 Bodies

Kevin Spak — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:00:00 CDT

A French search team has pulled another 75 victims of the Air France Flight 447 crash out of the briny depths in recent days, a spokesman for the French military police said today. He would not say what condition the bodies were in, but Reuters notes that the first two...