Families fear worst for 2 missing fishermen after horror on freezing loch
Village is left reeling by tragedy as search efforts scaled back
TWO men were feared to have drowned last night after their fishing boat capsized and sank. A major search and rescue operation was carried out on Loch Fyne, Argyll, yesterday.
The Coastguard received a distress call at around 6pm on Thursday after the crew of fishing vessel pulled a man from the water.
The man, named locally as John Miller, 34, told them his boat, the prawn trawler Nancy Glen, had capsized and there were two other men in the water.
But more than 24 hours later the search operation focused on waters north of the village of Tarbert was scaled back yesterday with no trace of the men found.
They were named locally as Duncan MacDougall, 46, father to two young sons, and Przemek Krawczyk, who has a young daughter and an older stepson.
Mr Miller was taken to hospital in Lochgilphead, Argyll, where staff described his condition as ‘stable’.
The fishing port of Tarbert, which is home to all three men, has been left reeling by the tragedy. Free Church minister the Rev Robert Macleod, said: ‘The community is clearly in shock, it’s a very sombre place today, the families involved are waiting for confirmation.
‘Both the Church of Scotland and ourselves, we have opened up our church for people who want to go in for quiet and reflection.
‘There are people involved directly, there are still people involved in the search and rescue part of it and there are the families, those who are struggling.
‘Something like this touches everybody, it’s a very sad and solemn place.’
Fishing boat operator John MacAlister, from Oban, Argyll, said Mr MacDougall comes from a well-known Tarbert fishing family who owned the Nancy Glen.
He added: ‘It is very sad. I have known the MacDougall family since I was a kid and Mr Krawczyk has lived in the village for a while.’
Tarbert councillor Anne Horn, a neighbour of Polishborn Mr Krawczyk and his wife Gosia, said: ‘They are a lovely family, they have lived here for some years.
‘All the men involved are from nice families and are all experienced fishermen.’
She said villagers were doing all they could to help those affected, adding: ‘It’s a very sad community and our love and prayers are for the families. There are young children involved and our hearts go out to them.’
A number of Coastguard teams, police divers, RNLI lifeboats, a Coastguard helicopter and local boats were all involved in the search yesterday.
A Coastguard spokesman said: ‘Attempts were made last night with a remotely operated underwater vehicle to investigate the fishing vessel which has come to rest on the sea floor.
‘However, poor visibility hampered those efforts.’
RNLI spokesman Henry Weaver said four of its lifeboats had been involved in the search. He added: ‘It has been a really good community effort search-wise, there have been a lot of local boats out helping.’
A friend of Mr MacDougall, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘As many boats as could go out went out.’
Describing the former Tarbert Academy pupil as ‘a nice, decent guy’, they added: ‘They were a nice family, you would always see Duncan and his wife Dawn together.
‘He clearly adored his children and Dawn – they had been going out together since they were young.’
Investigations into the cause of the accident are now taking place.
A Police Scotland spokesman said the search for the missing men was due to resume this morning.