A man who was pulled from the sea after falling into a north-east harbour has died.
The 41-year-old, who has yet to be named, was rescued from Macduff Harbour shortly after 5pm last night.
Paramedics performed CPR on the man until a helicopter from Inverness arrived to take him to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for further treatment.
A spokesman for Police Scotland confirmed the man died in the early hours of this morning.
Local Area Commander Chief Inspector Neil McDonald said: “Our thoughts are with his family at this very difficult time. Extensive enquiries have been carried out and we are content there are no suspicious circumstances.”
He added: “I would like to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge efforts of the members of the public, in particular some youngsters, who assisted in rescuing the man from the water when it became clear he was in difficulty.
“We would always encourage people to follow water safety advice in rescue situations but regardless this was an extremely brave effort which should rightly be recognised.”
The coastguard and RNLI were also called to the harbour following reports the man had plunged into the water.
The Macduff lifeboat team was also called to the incident, as well as the coastguard helicopter from Inverness.
All roads leading into the area were blocked off while the emergency services attended the scene.
