Toddler tragedy sea wall was awaiting £9m safety upgrade

THE sea wall of a Fife town, where a three-year-old boy was swept to his death was due to undergo a £9 million upgrade to make it safer, it has emerged.

The child died after he was washed away from the wall into the water off Kirkcaldy Esplanade on Saturday.

He was recovered and taken by ambulance to the town’s Victoria Hospital, but died a short time later.

His family had been with him at the time of the tragedy.

All emergency services attended the incident, including the coastguard, which recovered the boy.

A spokesman for Fife Constabulary said: “This was a tragic accident and we are doing everything we can to support the family at this very difficult time.

“Our thoughts are with them and we are providing as much practical assistance as possible. However, due to the family circumstances, it may be some time before we are able to issue the identity of the child.”

Superintendent Dougie Milton, who is co-ordinating the investigation, said: “We are keen to establish the full facts of how this apparent tragedy occurred.

“A report will be submitted in due course to the procurator-fiscal. I would ask anybody who was in the area at the time and saw the boy and his family or knows anything of this incident to contact Fife Police.”

Though some local people reported “fierce waves” had been crashing over the sea wall at the time of the incident, one resident said that it was still a mystery as to how the boy ended up in the water.

“The tide was well up, but at the area that I saw yesterday, the water wasn’t coming over the top,” he said.

“You would have to be standing on top of the wall for the water to have any effect other than giving you a bit of soaking.

“The Esplanade sea wall is four feet high, so a three-year-old wouldn’t be able to see the sea, and unless the waves were being driven onto the wall, and there was spray coming over the wall, they wouldn’t come into any contact with the sea. I have literally no idea how this could have happened.

“How that child managed to end up in the water is a complete mystery.”

The Esplanade is generally considered safe and a popular area, used by dog walkers and families, and separated from traffic by a grass verge and wall.

However, in April last year, the road was closed when the combination of high tide, heavy rain and windy weather pushed the waves over the wall. Concerns have also been raised about the condition of the structure.

Plans to upgrade the 90-year-old wall are expected to include increasing its height by half a metre and adding outlying defences to break up the waves before they reach it. Work had been expected to start early next year.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said Forth Coastguard was alerted to the incident at 3:20pm.

Police said the boy died at around 5pm in the hospital’s accident and emergency unit, about 90 minutes after he fell into the water.