Rescue workers were last night continuing the search for a 12-year-old boy, believed to be from Yorkshire, who was swept into the sea off Anglesey.
A shoreline search was carried out in darkness in the Welsh holiday resort of Aberffraw after coastguard and helicopter crews looking for the youngster were stood down yesterday evening.
The alarm was raised at around 12.30pm on Friday, when an initial 999 call reported three people, thought to be from Huddersfield, were stuck on rocks in the estuary.
It is understood that initially two boys had been playing in the water when they got into difficulty in rough seas and relatives had tried to rescue them.
The search for the missing boy was still ongoing as The Yorkshire Post went to press, but those involved in the first stages of yesterday’s search had described visibility as “horrendous” and predicted rougher seas through the night.
A spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “Coastguards searched for a 12-year-old boy who is believed to have been swept out to sea at Aberffraw.
“Holyhead Coastguard received a 999 call at around 12.30 on Friday reporting that three people were stuck on rocks in the estuary.
“Further information then suggested that two men had managed to make it back to shore, plus a young boy.
“However another youngster was caught in the large waves and swept out to sea.”
Anglesey coastguard manager Dave Brewer said it was understood the father of one of the boys managed to grab him while the grandfather tried to grab the other child.
He said: “The grandfather went in to rescue the other lad and a wave swept over. He managed to grab the rocks but lost grip of the child that is missing.”
The hunt for the youngster involved four coastguard rescue teams along, RNLI lifeboats, rescue helicopter RAF Valley and North Wales Police.