One of Hovertravel s fleet of Hovercraft at Ryde terminal. A WOMAN aged in her 40s has been rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition after she was involved in an incident at Southsea s Hovertravel terminal as an Isle of Wight crossing arrived. The incident happened close to the Hovertravel slipway at Clarence Pier, at about 5.30pm today (Saturday), according to Solent Coastguard. The woman was rescued from the sea by the Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (Gafirs) before she was brought ashore at Old Portsmouth and taken to hospital by ambulance in a life-threatening condition. A Solent Coastguard spokeswoman said: “At around 5.30pm, the coastguard received multiple 999 calls about an incident near the hovercraft slipway in Southsea.
An Isle of Wight lifeboat team is assisting with a search of the Solent this evening (Saturday) following reports of a missing person. HM Coastguard was contacted at around 5.10pm, to assist in a multi-agency search which is ongoing at this time. Cowes RNLI Lifeboat team has joined Coastguard Helicopter 175, Calshot RNLI, Gosport Independent Lifeboat and units from Portsmouth and Hillsea in conducting an on-the-water and land based sweep near Lee-on-Solent. HM Coastguard said: We are conducting a beach and land search for a missing man this evening, with a number of rescue teams currently in attendance. Hampshire Police are also assisting with the search.