Two children, aged two and three, die after car plunges into loch near Oban

'I saw a guy being ushered along the road by two members of the public, he had bare feet and was in his boxer shorts and he looked soaked, like he had been in the water'

Two young children drowned after a car they were travelling in crashed into Loch nan Druimnean, south of Oban. (Google Maps)

Two children aged two and three have died after a car crashed into a loch south of Oban on the west coast of Scotland.

Police Scotland confirmed the deaths of the toddlers after the car went into Loch nan Druimnean near the village of Kilmelford.

Coastguard teams, firefighters, police and two helicopters were involved in the search operation after the incident at about 4pm on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland told The Independent: “A 36-year-old woman was taken to Oban hospital as a precaution. The [bodies of] the children were recovered by divers.”

She said relatives had been informed about the deaths and police were appealing for information to try to establish how the car ended up in the loch.

The vehicle went into deep water and had not been recovered from the loch.

It appeared that a passerby may have tried to help those in the car.

One local, who did not want to be named, told the Daily Record newspaper: “I saw a guy being ushered along the road by two members of the public, he had bare feet and was in his boxer shorts and he looked soaked, like he had been in the water, I don't know what he was doing.”