Holiday accident new
01/08/2007

Summer floods take Edinburgh toddler

A trip to the Scottish countryside turned into a nightmare for one family whose toddler was involved in a fatal holiday accident.

Recent floods have not only brought destruction to many homes across the UK but they have also begun to take lives, one of which was that of a 22-month-old boy from Joppa, Edinburgh. The terrible ordeal struck while the family were staying in a log cabin in Kirkmichael, Perthshire close to the swollen Tullochcurran burn.

A team comprised of an RAF helicopter and sniffer dogs thoroughly searched the area where the child has last been seen. After approximately two hours from the time the toddler was announced missing he was found in the burn and airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he died.

The owner of the 1,500-acre estate where the holiday accident occurred says, "They had gone out to do their shopping and when they got back, they said they had shut the door behind them and the children were inside.

"After they had put the shopping away, they discovered the door was open and the little boy had wandered off.

He went on to say, "Normally, the burn is not deep at all, maybe one or two inches, and in the summer children go there to play and splash around. It's 100% safe.

"But it had been raining all night and may have risen. Last night was very wet. It wasn't flowing fast but faster than usual."

"The helicopter came and took the child away and they were trying to resuscitate him."

The circumstances surrounding the holiday accident are still being investigated and it is too early to say whether the parents will be employing personal injury solicitors to pursue a compensation claim for the death of their son.