Third child dies in canoe tragedy

A five-year-old girl who was rescued from a sea loch after a canoe accident has died in hospital - the third child to die in the tragedy.

Gracie Mackay, from the Muir of Ord, was among six people in the boat, including two young brothers, which capsized in Loch Gairloch, near Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands, on Sunday afternoon.

Ewen Beaton, five, and his two-year-old brother Jamie, died after being plucked from the water and airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

The search for their father, Ewen Fraser Beaton, 32, has been stood down for the day. He is presumed dead.

A statement from Northern Constabulary said: "Police can confirm that five-year-old Gracie Mackay from the Muir of Ord area has sadly passed away late this afternoon at Yorkhill Hospital following the Gairloch water incident."

Six people from two families, two men and four children, were on board the boat when it capsized. The girl's 35-year-old father - named in reports as Garry - and eight-year-old sister - named in reports as Callie - managed to swim to the shore and raise the alarm.

The five-year-old was initially airlifted to Broadford Hospital in Skye, but was transferred overnight by rescue helicopter to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill, Glasgow, where she died.

The family of the young brothers and their father have issued a statement through police.

It said: "We are utterly devastated by what has happened and the loss of our beautiful little boys. We appreciate all that has and is being done by emergency services to find their adoring father, Ewen.

"It is too difficult to say anything more at this time and we would appreciate our family being left in peace to grieve our terrible loss."