A woman and two young children have been rushed to hospital following an incident at Aberdeen’s beachfront.
The trio, believed to be a mother and her two boys, are in a serious condition after getting into trouble in the water at around 4.45pm today.
Concerned members of the public raised the alarm after spotting the adult and two children struggling in the chilly North Sea.
Witnesses described the weather conditions as “squally’ with gusts of wind battering the coast and the tide fully in.
Dozens of people were in the area, making the most of their weekend at beachfront cafes and a local amusement park when the drama unfolded.
Both the Aberdeen lifeboat and local coastguard rescue teams were involved in rescuing the woman and two youngsters, who are believed to be related, from the water just a couple of hundred yards in front of a Pizza Hut restaurant.
The three injured parties were rushed to waiting ambulances and taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary under police escort, where their condition is being described as serious.
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.
Inspector Ferguson said it was not a “typical” day for people to be playing in the water due to the weather conditions and that they were making enquiries as to what had happened in the lead up to the trio getting into trouble.
One of the children is believed to be aged around six or seven with the other youngster described by police as “slightly older”.
The inspector added: “We are speaking to witnesses and reviewing CCTV at the scene.”
