Major search launched after young boys seen in disused fabrication yard

A major search was launched near Ardersier last night, after two young boys were seen in a disused fabrication yard.

The Kessock and Invergordon lifeboat crews were drafted in to check the Moray Firth around 5.00pm last night - with police sharing an image of one of the kids on Facebook.

They were traced safe and well by 8pm.

The RNLI Kessock lifeboat crew were paged to launch at 5.05 pm. Launching their Atlantic 85 Class lifeboat, Robert and Isobel Mowat, quickly at low tide into calm seas and little wind the UK Coastguard requested the lifeboat initially search the shoreline from Whiteness Sands to Nairn in case they children had moved on.

Shortly after RNLI Invergordon Lifeboat were tasked to join the search. The low tide mean the Kessock Inshore lifeboat couldn’t get close enough to the shoreline and into the area around the fabrication yard. The Trent class all weather lifeboat daughter craft, a XP-Boat, with it’s shallower draught was better suited to try and navigate over the shallow sand bars at the entrance to the yard.

While Kessock lifeboat provided safety cover for Invergordon’s XP-Boat, the all weather lifeboat continued the shoreline search Kessock had initially been tasked too.

Nairn Coastguard and Inverness Coastguard were also conducting shoreline searches on foot.

Following an appeal on social media by Highland & Islands Police Division it was established that the children were safe and well and not at the fabrication yard or near the shoreline and all the Search and Rescue teams were stood down.