Loch search for two called off

A MASSIVE land and sea search was last night called off, with two men still missing after their fishing boat capsized off the west coast of Scotland.

One man died in the accident on Loch Awe, near Oban, yesterday while three others managed to swim ashore. Coastguards said none of the six were wearing life jackets.

The dead man was named as William Linden, 36, of Mossblown, Ayrshire. The missing men are 15-year-old Martin Rush from New Cumnock and Alan Pennel, 28, from Airdrie. The twin-hulled boat was swamped by a wave during fierce gusts of force four to five. When the alarm was raised at around 2pm, three coastguard teams from Oban, Inveraray and Loch Goil and an RAF Sea King helicopter were immediately scrambled with local boats joining the search. The six people, believed to be camping in the area, were on a fishing trip when the accident happened 700 yards away from the Ardanaiseig Hotel. They were travelling south at Ardanaiseig Point, near Taynuilt, when the boat sunk in poor weather conditions. Bob Bruce, of Oban Coastguard, said: "Force four to five winds from the north east funnelled through the areas and whipped up the sea and swamped the 25-foot open angling boat." Three survivors were rescued by two local anglers who were first on the scene and were taken by ambulance to the Lorne and Islands District General Hospital, in Oban, for examination. They are said to be in a stable condition. The injured three were Mr Linden's nine-year-old son Jordan, Robert McSeveney, 29, from Cumnock, and Francis Tunmore, 30, from Glasgow. A shoreline search was being co-ordinated by Kenny Devine, coastguard sector manager, with a temporary base being set up at the hotel. Coastguards called on the help of a local water bailiff for advice on the best areas to search and were concentrating on the shoreline around the bay. Conditions on the inshore loch were yesterday described as being very rough. Local fishermen were understood not to have put out to sea because bad weather had been forecast.

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