Horror at the harbour as baby boy dies af ter rescue
A BABY boy has died after being recovered from the water at a harbour.
Screams and crying could be heard as people rushed to help the infant at Ullapool, in Wester Ross, on Monday.
The boy, who is thought to have been less than six months old, was pulled from the water along with an adult at around 1.20pm, before being flown to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
He was pronounced dead a short time later. It is understood the incident involved a pushchair.
A Police Scotland spokesman said nobody else required hospital treatment and that an investigation was under way.
Arianna Hardy, 20, told yesterday how she was walking along the waterfront in the picturesque village to work at the Ferry Boat Inn when she heard screams and crying.
She said she saw medics trying to save the boy’s life before he was carried into the air ambulance.
The waitress said someone had jumped into the water to try to save the baby.
Ms Hardy said: ‘It’s just so heartwrenching. When I saw that pram I thought, “Oh no please, it better not be a child”.
‘It’s just absolutely horrible and the community reaction has been heartfelt for that poor child.’
One man who works at a nearby shop yesterday said he noticed blue police tape in the area of the harbour. He added: ‘It was pretty shocking to see.’
Three coastguard rescue teams were dispatched to the pier area from Ullapool, Achiltibuie and Inverness.
They were assisted by the Lochinver lifeboat crew, which turned back before reaching the scene, and a coastguard rescue helicopter from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.
Police, harbour authorities and paramedics were also in attendance.
The Highland village where the tragedy happened is a popular tourist stop, partly due to its ferry service to Stornoway.
Highland councillor Liz Kraft said she wished to offer her deepest condolences to the boy’s family.
She added: ‘The tragic incident will no doubt affect the whole community.’
Local group Fèis Rois, which runs after-school music classes for children and young people, issued a statement on social media following the tragedy.
It wrote: ‘As many will know, we are in Ullapool this week for our annual residential music-making course for children and young people.
‘Our hearts go out to the family of this wee boy and our thoughts are very much with everyone in the village and the wider community at this heartbreaking time.’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal in due course.’
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesman said: ‘Rescue teams from Ullapool, Achiltibuie and Inverness were sent, alongside the coastguard helicopter from Stornoway and the RNLI lifeboat from Lochinver.’
The Scottish Ambulance Service said: ‘An ambulance, air ambulance and HM Coastguard were dispatched and three patients were transported to Raigmore Hospital, Inverness.’
‘Our hearts go out to the family’