By Eric Nicolson

A 35-YEAR-old man died yesterday in the rapids of a Highland Perthshire river following a canoeing accident.

At around 11.45 am two men in a double canoe got into difficulty in the River Gaur, near the eastern end of Loch Eigheach, and their canoe overturned.

One of them managed to escape from the canoe and contacted the emergency services.

The other man was trapped under water and, due to the strong rapids, could not be rescued by his friend.

Police were joined at the scene by firefighters who used ladders and ropes to recover the man and the canoe from the water.

A helicopter from RAF Kinross, assisted by ambulance service staff, airlifted the man, whose identity has not yet been released by police, to Belford Hospital in Fort William where he was subsequently pronounced dead.

The River Gaur leaves Rannoch Moor and heads east through Loch Eigheach before ending its course at Loch Rannoch.

The accident happened at a part of the river near Rannoch station.