Police divers join search for Dow Loch father

The 47-year-old man, who has still to be named, had been on an Easter Monday fun day out at Dow Loch, in the Cleish Hills close to the border between Perth and Kinross, and Fife when he disappeared beneath the partially frozen surface of the loch.

He had shouted to his wife and two teenage daughters to get clear of the loch surface when they tried to reach him.

At the height of the frantic search for the missing man fire crews from Perth, Dundee, Kinross and Lochgelly were joined by two RAF Sea King search and rescue helicopters.

The crews of the two rescue helicopters were deployed to break the thick ice on the surface of the loch by using the downdraft of their rotor blades and firefighters also battled in sub zero temperatures to break the ice so they could deploy sleds and rescue boats onto the loch. But as darkness fell there was still no trace of the missing man.

Specialist divers from the underwater search team of the Grampian division of Police Scotland were today deployed to the area in the hope of recovering the body of the missing man.

Sergeant Ian Shepherd, from the Tayside division of the national force who is coordinating the search effort, revealed that the father had fallen into the water when he and his wife and two teenage daughters ventured out onto the ice covered surface of the small loch after sledging on a nearby hillside.

He said: “My understanding is that the family had been in the area sledging because there is a fair bit of snow still around. They had then ventured out on to the loch .It is a small loch right on the top of the Cleish Hills - little more than a large pool of stagnant water. It had frozen over.

“They had been walking on the loch and the father of the family wandered further out than anybody else and had fallen through the thinner ice as he got toward the middle of the loch.”

Sgt Shepherd continued: “The family had obviously done what they could to reach him, bearing in mind their own safety, but he had shouted to them to get off the ice. The family are absolutely distraught.

One of the two young teenage daughters had raced down the hillside to get to a location where she could get a signal for her mobile phone to summon the emergency services.

Sgt Shepherd explained: “There were no other families there. It’s quite an inaccessible spot and they were on their own. The eldest daughter ran back down to the road - about distance of a mile - to raise the alarm.

Sgt Shepherd admitted that there now “no hope” of finding the missing father alive. He said: “I think it moved yesterday from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

“Today members of the underwater search team are conducting a sonar search of the loch and we also have divers in the water. There has been no trace of the missing man so far.”

He said the tragedy should serve as a warning of the dangers of venturing out onto ice during the current cold spell.

Said Sgt Shepherd: “Only in very exceptional circumstances should people consider going onto the ice. The only time that would ever be would be like a bonspiel where experts have said it is safe.”

Morven McDonald, a watch manager with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in Dundee, said that the emergency services had been called to Dow Loch shortly before 3pm on Monday following reports that a man was missing after falling through the ice covered loch.

She said: “A full Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) water rescue team and supporting personnel were mobilised to the scene to locate the man. Police, ambulance and two search and rescue helicopters were also called to the incident.

“Emergency services have been working in very cold conditions for several hours to resolve the situation but concerns have heightened with no signs of the man since the alarm was first raised.”

Ms McDonald explained: “Firefighters had to travel to the area on foot as it was a considerable distance from the roadway, climbing an 150 foot ridge to gain access to the loch. Around 40 per cent of the water was covered with ice and fire crews initially deployed throw lines and a hose deflation kit into the water. A water rescue sled was then used to try and locate the man who had become submerged after it’s believed he fell through the ice.

“Firefighters used ceiling hooks to break up the ice and access the loch with sleds and rescue boats.”

She continued: “The search and rescue helicopters were also mobilised to the incident and used their downdraft to help break through the thick ice covering the loch and improve the passage for two Scottish Fire and Rescue Service boats.

“Sadly despite the intense and concentrated efforts of all the emergency services at the scene the casualty has not yet been located. Police underwater search teams are now searching the water with support from a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service boat and safety team. Firefighters have also used ceiling hooks to dredge below the surface from a rescue sled.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were quickly able to mobilise specialist resources including a full water rescue team and two SFRS boats to this incident. This was a remote location with the loch some way from the roadside and firefighters were only able to reach the incident carrying specialist equipment on foot.

“This appears to be a tragic incident but every effort is being made to locate the man with a full multi-agency response including the SFRS, police, ambulance crews, search and rescue helicopters

and underwater police search teams.”