A MAN IS feared to have died when he fell into the River Findhorn after his clothing became snagged on branches.
Rescue teams were called to the scene at around 12.30pm on Wednesday but they could not reach the man on a river that was badly affected by the storms that ravaged much of Scotland.
Coastguard and police search teams had to give up the search for the man, who was one of a team of Kayakers who were on the river at the Elephant’s Rock, around ten miles south of Forres. Police say that officers had attended the scene after learning of the man being in trouble and they called in Coastguard and Ambulance services.
Police could not last night say if the kayaker was still alive when the rescue bid had to be called off in the early evening, with a spokesman for the Coastguard Service saying that the search would resume at first light this morning.
The River claimed a life earlier this year when a 19-year-old drowned after attempted to swim on the river six miles south of Forres, his body was later found on the shore at Findhorn Bay.
Large areas of Forres remained on flood alert last night as a result of the torrential rain which caused devastation in neighbouring Aberdeenshire and in parts of the Highlands.
Update: Police have confirmed today (Thursday) that the body of a man in his 50’s has been recovered from the River Findhorn and that a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.