Stricken OAP rescued from cruise ship

AN Australian pensioner was rescued from a cruise ship in the Firth of Forth and taken to hospital after he stopped breathing.

The 75-year-old man, who is in a serious condition, was removed from the MS Eurodam - a Holland America Line ship - by the Dunbar RNLI team just after 2am today.

The alarm was raised by the liner four miles off Dunbar.

Both the all-weather lifeboat and the inshore lifeboat crew were involved in evacuating the man from the ship to the lifeboat, with the Dunbar Coastguard Rescue Team assisting the lifeboat crew to carry him up the steps at Dunbar harbour where he was taken to the ERI by ambulance. The man was accompanied by his wife.

A spokesman for Forth Coastguard said: "He had really bad problems breathing. These cruise vessels carry doctors but it was decided it was best to take him onshore."