THE brother of a Scot who disappeared while searching for the remains of Noah's Ark hopes a new documentary will solve the mystery of what happened on Mount Ararat three years ago.
Donald Mackenzie, from Stornoway, was hunting for the remains of the Biblical ark on the mountain in Turkey when he went missing in 2010.
Last year, his younger brother Derick and a film crew travelled to Turkey to try to find more about his disappearance and film a documentary about his experiences.
Made by Plainview Films, and to be broadcast on BBC Alba this Thursday, Mr Mackenzie hopes My Brother The Ark Raider will jog some memories or provoke more action in Turkey.
Plainview Films, led by co-producers and directors Jonathan Carr and Chris Marks, hopes to have the film shown in Turkey in a move which could put more pressure on authorities to find out what happened to the 48-year-old.
Donald, inspired by his Christian beliefs, wanted to find the remains of the Ark which the Bible says was inhabited by Noah, his family, and the world's animals after a great flood, coming to rest on Mount Ararat.
The team established where Donald's last campsite was, about 4500ft up the mountain, and recovered some of his belongings.
Derick said: "I am pleased by the film, viewers can certainly take what they want from it, but I did come away from the experience believing that he is not alive.
"I think that is made clear in the film. But I do hope the film is something that will help: maybe after this someone over there will want to come forward, if they know something, so we can have him found."
Derick thinks one of three things happened to his brother who had visited the area repeatedly for more than a decade to search for the Ark's remains.
He believes his brother either had a "simple accident" that proved fatal, was assaulted by "religious extremists" or was mugged or otherwise assaulted.
Derick himself believes the Ark itself is not on Mount Ararat, but in the surrounding mountainous areas, as the Bible speaks of the Ark coming to rest "on the mountains of Ararat".
He added: "Making the film was an interesting experience, and I was glad to get over there and at least try to do something, to have attempted to find him rather than do nothing.
"Hopefully it will be broadcast in Turkey and someone who knows something comes forward."
My Brother the Ark Raider follows Derick as he leaves his family in Stornoway and travels across Europe to Dogubayazit, a Kurdish town on the border with Iran at the foot of Mount Ararat.
The film, narrated by the Gaelic broadcaster Angus Peter Campbell, is in English and Gaelic.
Donald vanished when he was alone on the mountain, without a guide, without a permit and with the weather closing in.
The film sees Derick taken to the car pound where police have held Donald's van, and to some of his brother's possessions, that a shepherd claimed to have found at an abandoned campsite.
My Brother the Ark Raider is on BBC Alba at 9pm on Thursday.
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