Gair Loch canoe deaths: Divers join the search for missing canoe man

Shoreline searches have found no trace of Ewen Beaton, 32, who is presumed drowned after a boat overturned in Gair Loch in the north-west Highlands on Sunday afternoon.

His sons, Jamie, two, and five-year-old Ewen, died later that night after being rescued by helicopter from the water and airlifted to hospital.

A third child, Grace Mackay, from Muir of Ord, near Inverness, died in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow on Monday afternoon.

Her 35-year-old father, Garry, and her sister, Callie, eight, had managed to swim to the shore and raise the alarm.

Police officers and a Coastguard crew continued their shoreline hunt for Mr Beaton, from Beauly, yesterday.

A member of the Coastguard and the RNLI also carried out searches by boat.

Northern Constabulary said members of the Grampian Police underwater search unit were expected to join the operation today.

The force has said it will continue searching for Mr Beaton for the “foreseeable future”.

His family said in a statement that they were “utterly devastated” following the accident, while relatives of primary one pupil Grace have paid tribute to their “beautiful angel”.

On Tuesday, tributes were paid to the young children who lost their lives.

In a statement, the Mackay family said: “Grace was a funny, caring, thoughtful daughter and granddaughter, full of life, who loved animals and being outdoors.

“She adored her family and was our beautiful angel. We are devastated by the loss of our best friend.”

Police and Coastguard teams have been searching the shoreline for Mr Beaton, a digger driver, between Melvaig and Big Sand Caravan and Camping Site in Gairloch.