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Fire fighters on duty on the island of Dyksterhusen: the stuck car of two day trippers drives in the background
Photo: Frank Loger / dpa
An Easter excursion ended for nine people in East Friesland with waiting for hours on a former oil rig.
Two people were taken to a hospital.
The decommissioned Dollart drilling rig Dyksterhusen in the municipality of Jemgum in Lower Saxony is a popular excursion destination.
It protrudes far into the Dollart Bay and is connected to the mainland by an approximately 400 meter long driveway.
However, this driveway is inundated twice a day by floods.
"Everyone here knows that this is happening," said the spokesman for the Leer district fire brigade, Dominik Janßen, on Tuesday.
However, the nine day trippers were apparently surprised by the tide and did not make it off the island in time.
A couple tried to drive their car back to the mainland.
However, after a few meters, your car got stuck in the water, which was about two degrees cold.
Wet and hypothermic, the two saved themselves back to the island, as the fire department spokesman announced.
The fire brigade moved to the island in the afternoon with three boats and around 50 men, including divers from the water rescue team.
The couple were taken from the island by boat and taken to a hospital for outpatient treatment.
Fire fighters pulled the car, which was floating in the water, to the bank and cleared the driveway.
"It can't be that we always send out a large contingent"
The rest of the trapped had to wait for hours on the platform in their cars and wait for the tide to ebb.
In the evening they could have left the island independently and unscathed, said the fire department spokesman.
According to the fire brigade, there was no danger for those trapped on the platform, as it protrudes several meters from the water.
Due to the stormy weather and slightly increased water levels, the wet on the driveway reached about chest height on Monday, the spokesman said.
In the fire department, the carelessness of the day trippers shook their heads - especially since those trapped were locals, said Janßen.
Similar missions occur three to four times a year.
"It can't be that we always send out a large contingent," he said.
After all, the firefighters are all volunteers.
zob / dpa