A French family of five, including three children, was rescued by the Portuguese Air Force after a pod of killer whales rammed and sank their yacht off the coast of Portugal on Friday night.
The 36-foot French-flagged yacht, locally identified as Ti’fare, was sailing over 50 kilometres from Peniche when it came under attack from a group of orcas. The repeated blows breached the hull, causing the vessel to flood and eventually sink.
Authorities confirmed that the couple and their children, aged eight, ten and twelve, sent out a distress signal before abandoning the yacht in a life raft. They were later picked up by a Peniche-based fishing vessel, Silmar, which responded to the SOS while the Air Force and Navy were mobilised.
A Portuguese Air Force spokesperson stated that an EH-101 Merlin helicopter from Squadron 751, known as the Pumas, was deployed from Air Base No. 6 in Montijo at around
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