THE moment a terrified Scots mother and her helpless baby were almost swept away by a rapidly rising tide has been uploaded to YouTube.
The young mother is shown losing her footing while pushing her child in a buggy across a causeway in the Firth of Forth.
Both the woman and the pram were submerged in the water before onlookers rushed to their aid.
The child was snatched from the water by a passerby while the mother scrambled around to retrieve her lost belongings.
The dramatic rescue took place on the narrow causeway linking Cramond Island to the mainland.
At high tide the walk way is completely submerged and coastguards recommend the crossing is only attempted during the two hours either side of low water.
But the video shows the water already edging onto the causeway as the walkers make their way across.
Tom Robertson the operations manager for the lifeboat at South Queensferry, said anyone going to the island should take care and check the tide times.
Warning
He said: “This incident could certainly have been tragic if someone hadn’t managed to get to the child quickly.
“There have been many, many incidents in the past at Cramond. People get into trouble on the island or on the causeway about 20 times a year.
“Thankfully nobody has lost their life but there have been people who have had to be treated for hypothermia.
“One of the main problems we have is something like 80% of the people who have been involved in these kinds of incidents are not of British extraction, so maybe they can’t read the warning notices.
“My advice to people is to look at the crossing times before setting out and to realise that there is a good mile that you have to walk back. If they have a mobile phone they can also consult the coastguard.
“If you’ve got very young children in your care, you shouldn’t be going across there, because its not a very hospitable place. It’s overgrown – there’s lumps of concrete lying around.”
But local councillor Kate Mackenzie called for the signs to be simplified.
She said: “years ago people crossing the causeway were a lot more cautious but now with a lot of people not understanding the tide and not knowing the language, it’s an accident waiting to happen. I think we need pictorial signs or a green and red light.”
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