Six young women were in Co Antrim during the night after they got lost during a hike.
The women aged between 16 and 24 years of age were undertaking an expedition near Fair Head, Co Antrim, for the Duke of Edinburgh award.
The women were reported missing at about 10.30pm. A PSNI helicopter located two of the girls in the group at the top of Benmore Head and flew them to safety.
Belfast Coastguard sought the assistance, from Malin Coast guard, of the Sligo-based Irish Coastguard Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, Rescue 118. The other four women were believed to be at the foot of 450 foot cliffs, and the location was deemed too hazardous for the Coleraine and Ballycastle coastguard rescue teams.
The Sligo helicopter had to avoid a band of thunderstorms and used their “nitesun” spotlight fixed to the aircraft to locate the four women, about 300 foot up a 60 degree incline, and at the very base of a cliff. They were eventually winched to safety and flew to Derry Airport.
