Police appeal for information over disappearance of man in dinghy

Police are appealing for information as the search continues for a man in a dinghy who has not been seen for two days.

The last sighting of Andy Samuel, 59, was when a member of the public saw him going from his yacht into his dinghy off Kinloch, on the Isle of Rum, at about midnight on Tuesday.

The member of the public raised the alarm at about 10pm on Thursday when they realised the man had not moved his yacht to another location as expected, the coastguard said.

Nobody was aboard the yacht and no trace has been found of the man or dinghy.

The HM Coastguard helicopter from Stornoway, coastguard rescue teams from Mallaig, Eigg, Muck, Kyle, Dunvegan and Portree and the RNLI lifeboat from Mallaig carried out a search for the missing man on Thursday.

The RNLI lifeboat from Tobermory continued the search on Friday alongside Police Scotland officers, who urged anyone with information to contact the force.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Officers have received a report of a missing person on the Isle of Rum.

“Andy Samuel, 59, was last seen around midnight on Tuesday August 30 into Wednesday August 31, in the local area.

“Anyone with information on Andy’s whereabouts is urged to contact police on 101 quoting reference 3866 of September 1.”