Family to say goodbye to loch tragedy boys as hunt for their father goes on

Published on 04/09/2012 00:40

THE funeral of two young brothers killed in a sea loch tragedy will take place on Friday, as the search for their father continues.

Ewen Beaton, five, and his brother Jamie, two, died after a canoe capsized in Gair Loch last Sunday.

The search continued yesterday for their 32-year-old father, Ewen, from Beauly.

Grace Mackay, five, from Muir of Ord, also died in the tragedy, while her father Garry, 36, and eight-year-old sister Callie swam ashore to raise the alarm.

The families last night issued a statement thanking those who had supported them since the accident.

The Beaton family said: “We would like to thank the police, Coastguard, RNLI and all the other emergency services who did everything they could for little Ewen and Jamie.

“We would also like to thank everyone for their tireless efforts in the ongoing search for Ewen, including emergency services, local residents and visitors to Gairloch.

“Our focus remains firmly on finding Ewen and bringing him home.”

The Mackay family, in the same statement, also thanked the emergency services, as well as staff at Broadford Hospital on Skye and Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow.

They said: “We can’t believe what people have done for our family and we thank them all from the bottom of our hearts.

“We hope that the emergency teams can find Ewen and the Beaton family is very much in our thoughts at this time.”

Grace’s funeral will take place at East Church in Muir of Ord tomorrow at 1pm.