Kessock Bridge drama sparks lifeboat launch
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REPORTS of a person in distress on the Kessock Bridge sparked the closure of the A9 link and the launch of a Ross-shire lifeboat.
Motorists approaching the Kessock Bridge shortly after 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon found themselves diverted away from the scene by police, with no apparent indication of what was happening.
It has subsequently emerged that the volunteer crew of RNLI Kessock were paged at that time on Sunday to launch the RNLI Lifeboat, The Moray Dolphin following reports someone was in difficulty on the bridge.
Officers from Northern Constabulary attended the scene after the alarm was raised.
As the Lifeboat was leaving the launching trailer, it was stood down from the incident by HM Coastguard Aberdeen after it emerged police had bought the incident under control and the person recovered to safety from the bridge.
The volunteer crew then returned the lifeboat into the boathouse at Kessock.
The RNLI Lifeboat, The Moray Dolphin was rehoused in the Kessock boathouse within 10 minutes of the initial launch page being sent to the volunteer crew.
The shout was the 14 so far this year for the volunteer crew of RNLI Kessock.
The RNLI provides a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts.
The charity operates over 230 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and has more than 150 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK. It is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service.
Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 139,000 lives.
Earlier this year, the Journal reported how half of all Kessock's call-outs last year took place in the hours of darkness, according to the RNLI's latest statistics.
