Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Major search resumes after man seen in Tay
A MAJOR search operation resumed today after a man was spotted in the River Tay.
The alarm was raised at around 9.30pm yesterday after a member of the public contacted the coastguard to report the sighting of a man in the water near the Queen’s Bridge in Perth.
Coastguard teams, police officers, firefighters, ambulance crews and a search helicopter, along with a Broughty Ferry RNLI lifeboat, were all called out.
Three coastguard rescue teams from Carnoustie, St Andrews and Leven were all involved in a shoreline search last night.
Crews are said to have been working in sub-zero temperatures.
However, officials said they were still searching for a person at this stage, rather than a body.
A spokesman for the coastguard said a team was being sent from Dundee to Perth today to assist in the search, which resumed at first light.
A briefing involving the various emergency services was held just after 8am today, led by officers from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
A spokesman for Broughty Ferry lifeboat said the crew had been prepared to return to the scene today to continue the search, which extended towards the Inchyra area late last night after being launched in the city centre.
The spokesman added that RNLI crews had been searching to the east of the bridge, with other rescue vessels searching different areas of the river.
One eyewitness said he saw “a huge number” of emergency services in and around Perth.
He told the Tele: “There were eight fire engines from Perth, Dundee, Coupar Angus, and a couple of others that looked like they were drafted in from Stirling or Fife. The search area was from the Queen’s Bridge down river with crews searching the banks on both sides as well as Moncreiffe Island.
“The coastguard water rescue unit and a command support unit were also there.
“The helicopter was circling, then it went away to refuel and came back.
“I’ve seen a presence like this a couple of times in the past but there seem to be more and more each time there is a major search like this at night.
“There were also specialist vehicles from the Scottish Ambulance Service in Tay Street.”