TWENTY Red Cross emergency response volunteers today joined the search for a 23 year-old man missing in the Highlands since Sunday.
Begins a spokesperson: “The highly-trained volunteers were using two rigid inflatable boats and a specialist swift water rescue boat to search the rocky shoreline of Loch Cluanie in the north-west Highlands.
“The missing man was last seen on Sunday near the dam wall on the loch.
“The Red Cross volunteers were supporting police, mountain rescue search teams, SARDA (Search And Rescue Dogs Association) and an RAF search and rescue helicopter team.”
Ian Rideout, Red Cross operations director for Northern Scotland, said: “Our teams are carrying out a thorough search of the shoreline for any sign of the missing man.
“We are using two RIBs to search close to the shore. These craft are small and highly manoeuvrable and ideal for covering the rocky shallows of the loch.
“Both the RIBs are based at a Red Cross training centre at Kyle of Lochalsh. We have also brought in one of our swift water rescue boats from our Inverness base to search areas of deeper water.”
On Tuesday, Red Cross swift water rescue teams were called in to help search the waters between Kyle of Lochalsh and Skye for a missing Mallaig woman. The woman, in her fifties, was later found safe in the Kyleakin area.
ENDS
The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies.
We enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies
in their own communities. And when the crisis is over, we help them to recover and move on
with their lives.
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MEDIA RELEASE posted by the British Red Cross (Scotland). You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Derek Masterton
Phone: 0141 891 4016 or 07818 457589
Email: dmasterton@redcross.org.uk
Website: http://www.redcross.org.uk
