Two men were rescued from rough seas by policemen in separate incidents this afternoon.

In the first incident, an off-duty policeman, Charles Parnis, rescued a 58-year-old Maltese, who does not live in Malta assisted by a number of people, when he  could not swim back to shore near the Splash and Fun Park this afternoon.

PC Parnis contacted the AFM for assistance and the army deployed a helicopter to the Splash and fun area. 

But people who were on site, including PC Parnis and a Splash and Fun Park nurse, managed to rescue the swimmer, Mario Micallef.

Mr Micallef, who is staying at Ta' Xbiex, did not require any medical assistance.

TWO POLICEMEN RESCUE ERITREAN

Later in the afternoon, two traffic policemen on duty in Sliema rescued an Eritrean who found himself in difficulty near the Sliema pitch.

The second rescue was at around 5.15 p.m.

The policemen Robert Vassallo and Josef Vassallo, had been told there were people on a floating pool belonging to the Sliema pitch that was being towed to safety.

The officers went to check that these people did not need assistance and as they were there people noticed a man in difficulty in the sea.

The policemen ran to the edge and threw a buoy for the man to hold on to, so that he could be helped back to land.

SLIEMA POOL TOWED TO SAFETY

The Sliema Waterpolo Club had called a tug boat to tow out the large floating pool after it was damaged again by rough seas - for the second time this summer.

Club president Michael Gatt said the pool was being towed offshore to calmer waters before being taken to a sheltered creek.

The club managed to salvage the €50,000 full size floating waterpolo pool in late June after it was damaged by unusually strong waves which separated it into four pieces.