A mother and her young son have died this evening following a serious incident at Aberdeen Beach.
Personnel from Police Scotland, HM Coastguard, Scottish Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Service attended the scene and rescued five people from the water, transferring them to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
A 37 year-old woman and her seven 7 year-old son later died.
A 13 year-old boy, 25 year-old woman and 28 year-old man remain in hospital for treatment. Officers are currently liaising with the next of kin.
A large section of the surrounding area has been cordoned off by police, and lifeboat and coastguard teams have been called on for assistance.
Police Inspector Lorna Ferguson, who coordinated the beach front rescue mission, said: “We got called down about 4.45pm after reports of three persons in the water at the beachfront in Aberdeen.
“It appears that all three were possibly playing in the water.
“It appears to be a mother and two boys. All three have been recovered from the water with the assistance of the coastguard and lifeboat and are all en-route to hospital.”
Officers spent the evening quizzing dozens of witnesses as a large area of the beach remained cordoned off.
Chief Inspector Stewart Mackie said: “This is a very tragic incident which has resulted in a woman and young boy sadly losing their lives – it will undoubtedly bring shock and sadness to the entire city of Aberdeen and further afield.
“As we work with partners to establish the full circumstances of today’s events, we urge anyone who witnessed the incident or perhaps have information that could assist, to make contact with Police via 101”
“Given the recent weather conditions we’d urge members of the public to take care, especially when near coastal or beach areas.”
