Cave visitors in dinghy drama

FIVE tourists, including a child, were airlifted to hospital yesterday after their dinghy overturned as they visited a famous cave.

The group were visiting Fingal's Cave on Staffa, which inspired a work by composer Mendelssohn, when they got into difficulty at about 4:30pm yesterday.

The passengers and two crew managed to swim to the foot of a cliff, where they waited for help. They were winched to safety by a helicopter from HMS Gannet by 5:10pm.

The passengers were taken to hospital in Oban as a precaution, while the crew were transferred back to the main boat, Laurenca.