A major search and rescue operation was launched at the weekend to locate the victim of a road accident near Perth.
A boat was launched on the river Tay and dog teams combed the riverbank amid fears the injured driver had fallen into the river. Police officers attended the one-vehicle crash on Friarton Bridge late on Saturday night only to find no sign of the driver.
Concerned for his welfare and the possibility he was in the River Tay below a full-scale search of the surrounding area was mounted.
The police were assisted by members of the ambulance service and firefighters.
A full water rescue team from Perth attended, with fire service units from Auchterarder, Dunkeld and the command unit from Dundee assisting.
A total of 34 firefighters under the command of a senior officer were involved and one lane of the bridge was closed during the operation.
“We received a report that a car had crashed into the barrier on the bridge and a male was seen leaning over the bridge,” a fire service spokesperson said.
The search operation, which included a police dog team, scoured the banks of the river below the bridge as officers attempted to locate anyone in the water, with the aid of searchlights.
A boat was launched and an ambulance Special Operations Response Team (SORT) also attended. The search was called off after three hours when a man suffering from a head injury was traced not far from the crash site.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland Tayside Division said: “About 11.25pm on Saturday a road traffic collision involving one vehicle, a Nissan Qashqai, occurred on the northbound carriageway on the Friarton Bridge at Perth.
“Officers from Police Scotland attended and failed to trace the driver of the vehicle.
“An extensive search was carried out by police officers and members of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service.
“About 2.20am the driver was traced nearby, having suffered a serious head injury. He has been conveyed by ambulance to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for treatment.
“His condition at present is unknown but not believed to be life threatening.”
Officers will be speaking to the man as they piece together the circumstances surrounding the incident, though it is understood the man was not thrown from the vehicle during the original accident.
The search was the latest deployment of the dedicated fire service water rescue team.
A familiar sight on the Tay at Perth while carrying out training exercises, they were called out several times last month.
In one high-profile incident along with the coastguard, ambulance crews, sniffer dogs, a helicopter and the Broughty Ferry-based RNLI lifeboat, they took part in the operation which led to the recovery of a woman’s body from the river near Perth.