Funeral for two young brothers who died in canoe accident

The funeral has taken place of two young brothers who died in a canoeing accident.

Ewen Beaton, five, and his brother Jamie, two, were rescued by helicopter when the six-man canoe they were in capsized on Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, last month.

They were airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness where they died later that night. The body of the boys' 32-year-old father, also named Ewen, is still missing. He is presumed to have 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 in Glasgow's Yorkhill Hospital.

Grace's sister Callie, eight, and their father Garry, 35, managed to swim the 500 metres to shore and raise the alarm.

Ewen and Jamie's funeral was held at Inverness Crematorium on Friday afternoon.

Mourners began arriving in numbers with almost an hour to go before the service began at the quiet location, set in extensive grounds.

Some hugged and comforted each other before going into the crematorium for the service. A hearse carrying flower wreaths arrived at the building as mourners continued to take their seats inside.

Ewen was a first-year pupil at Teanassie primary school near Beauly.

Acting headteacher Alison Donald said the thoughts of the staff at the school, where Ewen's mother Jo works as a cleaner, were with her and the family.

She said: "Everyone in the school recognises Ewen as a lovely, lively little boy who was always fun to have around. His younger brother Jamie always had a cheery smile when he visited the school.

"It's been very difficult. It's a small community and there's 54 children in the school and seven in the nursery, with only maybe about 30 families. So everybody feels it very much together."

The Beaton family, from Beauly, near Inverness, offered thanks for the efforts in trying to find Mr Beaton.

In a statement, they said: "We would like to thank the police, coastguard, RNLI and all the other emergency services who did everything they could for little Ewen and Jamie. We would also like to thank everyone for their tireless efforts in the ongoing search for Ewen, including emergency services, local residents and visitors to Gairloch.

"Our focus remains firmly on finding Ewen and bringing him home. We would again like to thank everyone for their continued efforts to find him, particularly our dear friends in the local community.

"Our thoughts are also with the Mackay family at this extremely difficult time."

The search for Mr Beaton has involved helicopters, lifeboats and police dogs and divers.

Northern Constabulary have said they will keep looking for him for the time being.

Grace, who had just started second year at Tarradale Primary School, was laid to rest on Wednesday at East Church in her home town of Muir of Ord, near Inverness.

Hundreds of mourners gathered to say goodbye to the "beautiful angel" who is said to have had "an infectious smile".

Tributes were led by her classmates, who said Grace was a "good friend" and "fun to play with".

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