A man has died after falling overboard from a ferry, it has been confirmed.
Despite the urgent rescue mission launched to save the passenger who fell overboard from a ferry yesterday evening, he was later confirmed to have sadly died.
Coastguards said they were called earlier tonight to assist a Stena Superfast 8 ferry after a person fell in Loch Ryan, near Dumfries and Galloway.
Rescue teams rushed to the scene when the company raised the alarm at around 5.30pm, as the ferry was approaching its destination.
The person was rescued from the water by the ferry's own fast rescue craft and rushed to Ayr Hospital by the Coastguard's helicopter, who winched them aboard.
A spokesman for Stena Line said: "Stena Line can confirm a ‘man overboard’ incident occurred this afternoon at approx. 5.30pm on the Stena Superfast VIII vessel as the vessel approached its destination of Loch Ryan Port, Cairnryan.
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"Emergency response procedures were initiated, all relevant authorities, including the Coastguard and Police Scotland were informed and a search and rescue operation was launched."
A spokesman for Police Scotland confirmed the man died after being taken to hospital and added that enquiries were underway to establish "the full circumstances of the incident".
A spokesman for the Coastguard added: "HM Coastguard was requested to assist the Stena Superfast 8 ferry this evening after a person fell overboard in Loch Ryan.
"The person was recovered from the water by the ferry’s fast rescue craft and taken to Ayr Hospital by the Coastguard helicopter.
"We have no further information at this time."
More details on the passenger, or how they came to be in the water, are currently unknown.
Earlier this week a cruise passenger fell from the 10th deck of a cruise ship, prompting a dramatic rescue.
The 42-year-old, who was not named, was sailing on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas when she fell into the water around 31 miles south of Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Fox35: “The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and began searching for the guest.
“Thankfully, the guest was successfully recovered and was brought on board."
The woman, who is a US resident, was uninjured and did not require any medical attention was eventually taken to hospital for an assessment.
Witness and fellow passenger Matthew Kuhn said he thought someone had died when he saw the rescue attempt unfolding as he saw life rafts and smoke.
The captain, Matthew said, told the ship in an announcement that they had "reports of a person overboard."
Passengers watched the rescue in front of them and began cheering when the woman was recovered from the water, as some people were thinking the worst had happened.
The entire rescue took around 45 minutes from the Coast Guard being informed.
