United States student dies after swimming off beach

A young American student collapsed and died last night after swimming in the sea off West Voe beach, Sumburgh.

Evan Padraig Dube, 19, from Plaistow, New Hampshire, was with a group of 10 students from Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, in Shetland to work on a climate project.

Police said the group were on the beach intending to have a barbecue and arrived shortly after 9pm last night. Mr Dube went into the water and collapsed after coming ashore.

His friends attempted to resuscitate him and called emergency services. He was then airlifted to the Gilbert Bain Hospital, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

A police spokesman said: “There do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident and a report is being submitted to the procurator fiscal.”

The group was participating in the Shetland Islands Climate and Settlement Project, an ongoing archaeological research project funded by the National Science Foundation, involving scholars from Bates and other higher education institutions.

In a statement Bates College said: “Bates College has been shaken and deeply saddened to learn that first-year student Evan Dube died on Saturday night, May 19, in the Shetland Islands, Scotland.

“At this time we have no other information about the incident to offer— simply that we have lost a member of our Bates community long before his time. Evan’s fellow students in Scotland are receiving grief counseling and will return to Boston on Tuesday.”

On Sunday night, the Bates campus community gathered in Perry Atrium to offer one another comfort and support.

NO COMMENTS

Add Your Comment

Add Your Comment

Please note, it is the policy of The Shetland Times to publish comments and letters from named individuals only. Both forename and surname are required.

Comments are moderated. Contributors must observe normal standards of decency and tolerance for the opinions of others.

The views expressed are those of contributors and not of The Shetland Times.

The Shetland Times reserves the right to decline or remove any contribution without notice or stating reason.

Comments are limited to 200 words but please email longer articles or letters to editorial@shetlandtimes.co.uk for consideration and include a daytime telephone number and your address. If emailing information in confidence please put "Not for publication" in both the subject line and at the top of the main message.

200 words left

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo

Get Latest News in Your Inbox

Join the The Shetland Times mailing list to get one daily email update at midday on what's happening in Shetland.