Man swept to his death by a ‘freak wave’ on Angus coast near Arbroath

By DALE MILLER
Published on 15/10/2012 00:00

A MAN was swept to his death by a “freak wave” at a popular fishing spot on Scotland’s east coast yesterday.

The 49-year-old man was fishing at an area known as Deil’s Heid, about two miles north-east of Arbroath on the Angus coast, when the wave swept him from rocks and into the water about 12:20pm.

Two other men, known to be acquaintances of the victim who was from Arbroath, were fishing with him at the time of the incident. One of them immediately called Aberdeen Coastguard for help, with rescuers arriving at the scene within 15 minutes and retrieving the fisherman’s body.

He was pronounced dead at the scene after efforts to resuscitate him failed.

Formal identification of the victim will be carried out this morning, with Tayside Police confirming they had notified the man’s immediate family.

A police spokeswoman said: “He has just been subject to a tragic accident involving a freak wave that seems to have swept him into the water.

“It has been wet here, but it’s not exceptionally windy and there has been, as far as I’m aware, no reports of any exceptionally high tide. It’s just that he’s been 
unfortunate.”

Deil’s Heid, otherwise known as “Devil’s Head”, is a prominent rock formation on the Angus coast that forms part of a four-mile-long cliff trail graded as an easy walk. It is a popular fishing and climbing spot for locals, offering spectacular views of the area’s red sandstone cliffs and the North Sea.

Tayside Police said it was a rare and isolated incident for that stretch of coast.

“There’s a lot of fishermen who use Arbroath harbour, outer harbour and the cliff area to fish from and they do so on a regular basis,” a spokeswoman said. “Being local, I would imagine that he would have been aware of any dangers that they might have faced.

“The cliff area of Arbroath has got a path on it and it is relatively safe as long as you stick to recognised areas and as far as we know it is an area where they normally fish from that he was at.”

Two lifeboats and two 
response teams were sent by 
Aberdeen Coastguard to the main’s aid after receiving the 
distress call.

The male caller was kept on the line while emergency crews travelled to the scene to speed up the rescue effort.

An Aberdeen Coastguard spokesman said: “When the in-shore lifeboat arrived on the scene, they found the casualty very quickly in the water. The crews did work on him for while, but he was pronounced dead [at the scene].”

The death comes just a week after the Aberdeen Coastguard rescued the skipper of a Port Seton fishing boat in an accident in Kirkcaldy Bay. The 18-year-old suffered serious upper arm injuries when his limb got caught in machinery while he was fishing for prawns about three miles south-east of Kirkcaldy.

Aberdeen and Portlethen coastguard rescue teams have been called out to 51 incidents from January to September this year.