Press Notice No: Duty 1
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Posted 06:38 GMT

Coastguard Rescue Officers searched Barvas Moor on the Isle of Lewis last night after Stornoway Coastguard received a call for help from a lost walker. The man was found at 2am.

At 6.20pm on Friday, Stornoway Coastguard was contacted via the mobile phone of a walker on the Isle Of Lewis who had become disorientated and lost in very poor visibility this afternoon. Conditions today have included fog, mist and low cloud cover in the area. The 23 year old reported that he was unsure of his position on the Moor and had not expected to be still out at night but had managed to find some shelter for himself and his dog in a bothy.

Stornoway Coastguard sent four Coastguard rescue teams to Barvas Moor which is approximately seven miles West of Stornoway. The Stornoway Coastguard Rescue Helicopter was also sent to the scene and rescue officers had hoped that the noise of the helicopter in the area might have been heard by the lost man and used to indicate a position to searchers via further mobile phone conversations but this proved unsuccessful initially.

At 10.30pm Stornoway Coastguard were forced to divert the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter to an urgent medical evacuation in the Inverness area. Coastguard Rescue Teams continued to search the area from Stornoway, Breasclete, Bragar and Miavaig. The Coastguard Rescue Helicopter resumed a search on its return to the area and located the man using the light from his mobile phone.

Martin Collins, Watch Manager at Stornoway Coastguard says,
With dropping temperatures overnight we were relieved to find this man as soon as possible and we had 20 Coastguard Rescue Officers searching the Moor over night. His only light was a mobile phone with limited battery life.
Wed like to thank members of local Salvation Army who provided food and warm drinks for the Coastguard search teams


Posted By: Julia Gosling

For further details contact:
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency Press Office
023 8032 9401