how “Marcel the Duck”, an amphibious tourist bus, saved a woman from drowning

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A tourist trip became a rescue operation. Saturday November 30, 2024 at the end of the day, a woman fell into the water near Sèvres in Hauts-de-Seine. A crew of the National Society of Sea Rescuers (SNSM) was able to save the victim… helped by “Marcel the Duck”, a water bus dedicated to tourism. A look back at this incredible rescue.

A woman who fell into the Seine

It is 6:45 p.m. when the bus goes into the water, at the departmental water park of the island of Monsieur. “At that moment, I am on the bank to check that everything is operational on the bus, while on board, the captain floats the vehicle and the guide starts a countdown with the passengers on the music from Pirates of the Caribbean”, relates Philippe, co-founder of the company in charge of the water bus and present at the time of the events.

If the atmosphere is relaxed during this dive, everything will not go as planned. Remaining on the platform, Philippe learns that a woman fell into the Seine ten minutes earlier. It concerns a 46-year-old woman who had disappeared the same day and was suffering from suicidal thoughts, said the Nanterre public prosecutor's office.

Healthy lighting

Very quickly, the SNSM sets out to find the forty-year-old. A difficult operation, because it is pitch black at this time. The rescuers will then receive unexpected help: the headlights of the amphibious bus. “I was in direct contact with the captain, and I warned him of the situation. He turned on the headlights to determine the location of the woman who had fallen into the water,” explains Philippe.

On the bus, not another word. The guide asks passengers to help find the person in distress. After a few minutes, the latter was found, floating at the old Sully barracksnear the Saint-Cloud bridge. The SNSM rescuers rush to her rescue, while the bus keeps its lights on, so as not to lose sight of the forty-year-old.

“It felt like we were in a movie”

The latter is finally drafted and support by emergency services. In hypothermia, his down jacket allowed him not to sink into the Seine. “It felt like we were in a movie. I didn't have time to grab the buoy as help was already there,” rewinds the guide-animator who was on board. After this rescue, the bus resumes its tour, and returns to dry land an hour later, to the applause of the passengers.

For Philippe, this event is a first for “Marcel the Duck”, but it is not necessarily a surprise: “We are in an area which is downstream of the Seine. Obviously, with Paris upstream, seeing people in the water can happen. “It’s something we prepare ourselves for psychologically.”

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