Search for 16-year-old swept out to sea stood down for night

Rescue mission: Teenager missing since early hours of Saturday morning.© STV

The search for a teenage boy apparently swept out to sea has been stood down for the night.

Reece Sweeney, 16, was in the water at Banff Bay in Aberdeenshire with two friends when he vanished, apparently swept away by a wave.

The search, which involved the coastguard, RNLI Lifeboats, an Air/Sea Rescue Helicopter and Grampian Police Underwater Search Team, has found no trace of the missing teenager.

Further searches will be carried out by HM Coastguard and Grampian Police on Sunday morning.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the ambulance service received a call at about 2.30am on Saturday, saying that somebody was in the water and in need of help.

The emergency call was forwarded to the coastguard at Aberdeen. Coastguard teams from Buckie, Portsoy, Banff and Gardenstown were sent to carry out a shoreline search, along with the Moray Coastguard sector manager.

A rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth was also scrambled and the Macduff and Buckie RNLI lifeboats were called out.

The MCA has reminded members of the public to call 999 and ask for the coastguard if they get into difficulty on or along the coast.

Grampian police are carrying out inquiries into the circumstances leading up to the three people being in the water.

People who read this story also read