Rescue crews who spent two hours sifting through rubbish at a garbage dump in Sydney, Australia after a discarded distress beacon was activated have pleaded with the public to dispose of the devices correctly.
By 4:00pm they had moved five tons of junk but still hadn’t found the beacon, chief executive officer Stephen Leahy said.
“I had my rescue crews sifting through household rubbish and even animal carcasses, trying to find this beacon so we could turn it off,” he said.
“Inadvertent activations of distress beacons potentially make vital resources unavailable for use in real emergency situations,” the spokesman said.
It’s also another reason why registering your beacon and keeping your details up to date is so important.
Read more here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-04/distress-beacon-prompts-emergency-response-to-tip/10869214