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Hunters Rescued from Pelekunu

MFD News Release

Two weeks ago, a group of Molokai hunters and their dogs got stranded in Pelekunu Valley due to poor weather and were rescued by the Maui Fire Department.

On Saturday Oct. 29, the six people and their nine hunting dogs arrived by small boat to go pig hunting in the remote valley. At around 3 p.m., weather and ocean conditions worsened, which resulted in only three of the six individuals making it back out to the boat.

Two males aged 18 and 30, a 15-year-old female, and the nine hunting dogs were not able to make it safely out to the boat and remained on shore. The boat’s operator informed the Coast Guard, then returned back to their original departure point at Mo`omomi Beach.

The Coast Guard sent a helicopter to pick up the stranded hunters Saturday night, but deteriorating weather did not allow the rescue team to complete their mission, and the helicopter left to return to Oahu at 11:30 p.m.

At 10:20 a.m. Sunday morning, MFD’s Air 1 helicopter with a Kahului rescue crew aboard located the three hunters on the beach at Pelekunu Valley and airlifted them to the Ho`olehua Fire Station. All three were in good health and did not require any medical attention. The hunters said they will go back to retrieve the nine dogs that were left behind after weather and ocean conditions improve.

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