Birrell Stewart dies and two missing from Forth boat capsize

A 30-year-old man has died and two others are missing after a small fishing boat overturned in the Firth of Forth.

Birrell Stewart was picked up from the water about a mile out to sea off the Fife coast at about 17:00 on Monday.

Mr Stewart, from East Wemyss, was declared dead a short time later.

Jason Buchan, 35, and David Stead, 47, both from East Wemyss, who were in the boat fishing for mackerel with Mr Stewart, are missing.

The three amateur fishermen were reported missing amid concerns of worsening weather conditions.

The coastguard launched a search after it was alerted by someone on the shore.

They found the 10ft boat and later located Mr Stewart, who was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he was declared dead.

Local councillor Tom Adams, who knows the men, said they were good friends who lived in the East Wemyss area and made regular trips out on the boat fishing for mackerel. He said the tragedy was ''devastating for the whole coast''.

He added that the men enjoyed fishing as a hobby.

Lifeboats from Anstruther and Kinghorn were involved in the search on Monday night, as well as the Rescue 131 RAF helicopter from Boulmer and three coastguard teams from Kinghorn, Leven and St Andrews.

Mark Rodaway, a national maritime operations manager with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, told BBC Scotland three teams were taking part in a resumed coastline search and a further two RNLI lifeboats had put to sea to re-cover the area in daylight.

He said: "Half an hour into yesterday's search we located the overturned hull of the small fishing boat which gave us extremely good data on the position and 45 minutes after that we recovered the gentleman who, sadly, was subsequently declared deceased.

"So we know where to look. The search area itself remains quite tight and I have got an awful lot of assets to cover that."

Mr Rodaway said the weather was "moderate" at the time of the incident. He said there were fresh breezes but definitely not gale force.

Police said officers were in contact with the families of the missing men.

Jacqueline Thomson, deacon in the Church of Scotland parish of Buckhaven and Wemyss, said: "The community is deeply shocked and saddened by this fishing tragedy, which started off as something that many people in this part of the Fife Coast enjoy doing as a recreational past-time.

"On behalf of the church we would wish to convey that our thoughts and prayers are with the families as they await news of their loved ones."

Matthew Docherty, of East Wemyss angling club who was out fishing on the same day, said: "Conditions were excellent, it was flat like a pancake, but as soon as it got later it started picking up and just rained, it was torrential.

"There was just a big wall coming towards us, so I said lets get back in. We got in and that's when I got the phonecall about them."

Ch Insp Adrian Annandale, of Police Scotland, said: "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.

"My thoughts are with the friends and family of all of the fishermen, and with the local community at this time. We will look to provide further updates on our ongoing inquiry once we have more information."