Fears mother and daughter drowned

A major search operation was underway last night amidst fears that a mother and daughter have been drowned.

An operation was launched after a passerby found a woman’s body at Roxstown Harbour close to Malin, Co Donegal, just before 6.30pm.

The woman’s car was found near the shoreline. It is believed she walked out to a causeway at low tide and was then cut off when the high tide came in.

There was further panic after a member of the public said they had seen the woman earlier with a baby. However, last night the RNLI said they could not confirm that there was a second person involved.

The woman’s mobile phone was recovered and the PSNI are trying to contact relatives to determine if the woman had a child.

Gardaí alerted the rescue services to the tragedy just after 6.30pm.

A number of emergency services arrived at the scene of the incident.

The Rescue 118 helicopter from Sligo spent more than two hours in the area searching before refuelling and starting to search again.

A spokesman for Malin Head Coast Guard said last night’s tide was one of the biggest of the year so far.

“It was a huge tide which peaked at 8pm and went out quickly.

“We got a call from the gardaí that a woman’s body had been located at Roxtown Harbour.

“Gardaí were then told that a baby had been in the company of the woman earlier on... The woman is from Derry and the PSNI are trying to establish contact with the family to see if the baby or child is missing.”