DEL RIO, Texas — We're learning more about two fishermen who had to be rescued on Saturday near Lake Amistad, three hours west of San Antonio. The San Antonio Police Department released video of its EAGLE helicopter showing up to get them to safety.
The two boaters were reported to be in distress on a river portion of Lake Amistad, 10 minutes north of Del Rio. Two of the Department of Public Safety rescue aircraft and a Texas Parks and Wildlife rescue helicopter were both down for maintenance and their closest rescue helicopter was in Houston, SAPD said.
A 12-minute video of the rescue was taken by the Texas Department of Public Safety and shared by SAPD on YouTube on Wednesday:
"Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens were on scene attempting to rescue the 2 fishermen on a boat, but were unsuccessful due to the muddy, silt-like terrain the boat had run up on. Texas Parks and Wildlife attempted rescues with multiple types of boats, but were unsuccessful. The fishermen’s boat was slowly settling into this soft muddy ground... With nightfall fast approaching, EAGLE launched from Stinson Airport to conduct the rescue. EAGLE arrived on scene and communicated with Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas DPS aircraft already on scene (non-rescue helicopter) to set up a staging area. The 2 fishermen were successfully rescued by hoisting them out of the boat and dropping them off at the staging area with Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens."
KENS 5's Vanessa Croix spoke to one of the men rescued and three of the rescuers from different agencies who worked together.