Search for canoe tragedy father

The search has resumed for the body of a father missing after a canoe capsized in a sea loch in the Scottish Highlands on Sunday, killing his two young sons and a five-year-old girl.

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Funeral held for brothers killed in canoe accident

A funeral was held for two young brothers who died in a canoeing accident which also claimed the life of their five-year-old friend.

Floral tributes at the funeral of Ewen and Jamie Beaton, the two brothers who died in the Loch Gairloch canoe accident. Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Ewen Beaton, five, and his brother Jamie, two, were rescued by a helicopter after a six-man canoe they were in capsized on Loch Gairloch, in the Scottish Highlands, on Sunday August 26. They were airlifted to hospital where they died later that night.

Undertakers moves flowers at the funeral of Ewen and Jamie Beaton. Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

The body of the boys' 32-year-old father, also named Ewen, is still missing. He is presumed drowned. Family friend Grace Mackay, five, was also pulled from the water after the accident but she too lost her fight for life last week.

Pictures released of canoe tragedy family

Ewen Beaton, 32, is still missing after the canoe overturned in Loch Gairloch. Credit: Northern Constabulary
Five-year-old Ewen Beaton died after being rescued by helicopter from the water and airlifted to hospital. Credit: Northern Constabulary
Two-year-old Jamie Beaton also died on Sunday night after being airlifted to hospital. Credit: Northern Constabulary

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  1. Debi Edward: Scotland Correspondent

What is a buoyancy aid?

It is understood the children were wearing buoyancy aids, which act as flotation devices but won't, unlike life jackets, keep you upright in the water.

An investigation into how the canoe the two families were incapsized, will be carried out in due course.

  1. Debi Edward: Scotland Correspondent

Canoe sisters were 'inseparable'

Garry MacKay was by his daughter's bedside in Glasgow when she passed away. Other family members had also been taken from the Highlands to be with Gracie at the hospital, however her maternal grandfather arrived just after she'd lost her fight for life.

His wife Pennie Macdonald said

Billy left to be at Grace's bedside but he arrived two minutes after she died. He's absolutely devastated.

Pennie also spoke of the courage of Gracie's elder sister in swimming the 500 metres to shore to get help:

Callie was a very keen and strong swimmer she took lessons at the school and I'm not surprised she managed to swim to shore. The girls were like twins, they were inseparable and Callie will be lost without her sister.

Search resumes for canoe accident father

The Coastguard said last night the mission is a recovery one. Credit: Press Association

A search resumed today for a man missing after a canoe capsized in a sea loch, claiming the lives of his two young sons and a five-year-old girl.

32-year-old Ewen Beaton was among six people, including four children, in the boat when it overturned in Loch Gairloch on Sunday afternoon. He is presumed dead.

His sons Jamie, two, and five-year-old Ewen died later that night after being rescued by helicopter from the water and airlifted to hospital. A third child, Gracie Mackay, died yesterday.

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Scottish canoe accident claims fourth life

The boating tragedy in the Scottish Highlands has claimed another life. Gracie Mackay, who was just five years old, died in hospital this evening.

Earlier police named the two other young victims - two-year-old Jamie and five-year-old Ewen Beaton. Their father, also called Ewen, is still missing and is presumed drowned.

As ITV News' Scotland Correspondent Debi Edward reports, there were a total of six people in the large canoe when it overturned in Loch Gairloch in the northwest Highlands. Only Gracie's father and sister survived.

Photo of Gracie Mackay released after tragic death

Callie Mackay (left) raised the alarm but efforts to save her sister Gracie sadly failed. Credit: Copyline Scotland

A photo has been released of five-year-old Gracie Mackay, the third child to have died after the canoe accident yesterday in a sea loch in the Scottish Highlands.

She is pictured alongside her eight-year-old sister, Callie Mackay, who swam to safety in Loch Gairloch, near Ullapool, to raise the alarm after the six-person canoe capsized.

Ewen Beaton, five, and brother Jamie, two, also died, while the boys' father, Ewen Fraser Beaton, is presumed dead.

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