A pair of horrified onlookers tried to save a teenage boy who was swept away in the Tay on Sunday night.
The couple, who declined to be drawn on their terrifying ordeal, said there was “nothing anyone could do” to save Mateusz Wilamowski.
The 16-year-old, who moved to Perth from Poland in May, is feared drowned after attempting to swim across the River Tay to get home from the Rewind music festival.
Distraught members of his family were among members of the public who watched as specialist dive teams took to the water.
Meanwhile, residents spoke of their shock. Pam Milliner, 39, was relaxing on the riverbank at the time Mateusz went missing. She said he had been trying to cross the river with two friends when he disappeared.
“I saw three lads going across,” she said. “I said to my mum: if I was further up the river, I would have been screaming at them to get out.
“Then the police came up and told us to keep a look-out as a boy had slipped under. I’ve sometimes been thinking: ‘Could I have done more?’
“It’s sad because we’ve had such lovely weather and the Tay looks so inviting. We are shocked. The river Tay is notorious if you don’t know it.”
Ruby Barker added: “We are very, very shocked. You don’t want this to happen to anyone, but someone so young it’s tragic.”
Another woman, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s just awful. It’s a terrible thing to have happen on your doorstep.”
The alarm was raised by the boy’s friends at around 7.20pm when he slipped from view near the Woody Islands area at North Muirton.
An RAF Lossiemouth helicopter carried out a search, assisted by police, firefighters and mountain rescue volunteers.
Nearby residents said Mateusz and his friends had been attempting to return to North Muirton from the Rewind Festival in the grounds of Scone Palace. They said Mateusz was wearing a hoodie, which filled with water and pulled him under.
When the search resumed yesterday, more than 30 emergency service workers were drafted in, including police, firefighters, a police search and rescue unit and the Tayside Mountain Rescue Team.
Divers from the specialist police unit based in Glasgow joined the search. Mateusz’s grief-stricken family watched from the river bank for a time. They declined to comment.
Police say his family, both in Scotland and in Poland, are being kept informed of developments. The search was likely to continue for some time, they added.
He said: “It is a challenging environment to look for someone and searches will continue for some significant time.”