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.