Aberdeen beach incident statement

22 August 2016

Aberdeen City Council Leader Councillor Jenny Laing said: “Our undivided attention is in supporting Lucas’s family as well as his schoolfriends.

“We will be working closely with partners over this sad and tragic event and our thoughts are with the family.

“As stated by Ross Greenhill, The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s coastal operations area commander, Aberdeen beach is well served by both signage and life safety equipment at the beach.

“In addition to the Coastguard review, the Local Resilience Partnership which includes the City Council will be carrying out a multi-agency review of the rescue and recovery efforts to ensure any lessons can be learnt.

“We would ask the media to respect this is a difficult situation for young children to come to terms with, and that you allow the whole of the school community to come together.”

The LRP comprises of Aberdeen City Council; Aberdeenshire Council; the Moray Council; Police Scotland; Scottish Fire and Rescue Service; Scottish Ambulance Service; NHS Grampian; HM Coastguard; Scottish Environment Protection Agency.Other invited partners include the Ministry of Defence and, depending on issues to be discussed, utility providers, transport operators (rail, airports and harbours), trunk road managers and voluntary agencies.