Fisherman dies and two missing as boat capsizes in Firth of Forth

Birrell Stewart, Jason Buchan and David Stead are believed to have been invovled in the incident which occurred last night (Monday).

Birrell Stewart, 28, from Kirkcaldy, was pulled from the water near East Wemyss in Fife and airlifted to hospital where he died a short time later.

Officers today resumed their search to trace the other men, who have been named as East Wemyss residents Jason Buchan, 35, and David Stead, 47.

It is thought the three men, understood to be from Fife, were bringing in crail pots when their boat capsized.

“A man was recovered from the water around 0.9 nautical miles out to sea from East Wemyss”.

It was stood down as darkness fell but resumed on Tuesday morning, with local lifeboats searching the coastline.

With the search for the two remaining men continuing, Chief Inspector Adrian Annandale, local area commander, said officers are still treating the case as a “high risk missing persons inquiry”.

A man was recovered from the water and was immediately taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee by helicopter.

A search was launched by the coastguard after the men were reported missing amid worsening weather conditions at about 5pm on Monday.

The coastguard said two lifeboats from Anstruther and Kinghorn were involved in the search, as well as the Rescue 131 RAF helicopter from Boulmer and three coastguard teams from Kinghorn, Leven and St Andrews.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We are dealing with an incident in East Wemyss”.

‘We have been working closely with colleagues from the coastguard as well as volunteer lifeboat personnel and I would like to thank our partners for all of their assistance and support.