A FAMILY have paid tribute to a “precious and fun-loving” eight-year-old girl who died after logs fell on her during a forest walk with her grandfather.

Kayla MacDonald, from Dunbeg, was trapped by the logs near the village of Benderloch, north of Oban, at about 2:40pm on Sunday while she was out with her grandfather Ewen MacPherson and his daughter from his second marriage, Caitlin, 12.

Caitlin was also injured and was airlifted to Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban, then transferred to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow where she is in a stable condition.

In a statement the dead girl’s family said: “Kayla was a precious fun loving eight-year-old who was loved by everyone around her.  “Kayla’s smile would light up a room. She attended Rockfield’s Gaelic Medium where she was fluent in Gaelic. 

The Herald:

“Our wee girl loved music and dance as well as doing hair, nails and make up. Kayla has two younger brothers who, along with the rest of her family and friends, will miss her dearly.”

A local resident, who knows the family, said Mr MacPherson was out walking with the girls.

The friend said: “It’s absolutely heart breaking, they are probably one of the closest knit families I have ever come across. Caitlin and Kayla were best friends, as well as being related.”

He said: “It was just a family walk, It was a normal family outing that unfortunately ended in tragedy because of a site that was used as a play area.  “They were just playing on the logs – and that was it. Obviously with the weight of the things (logs) you would think it wouldn’t move, but it did, It was unfortunate circumstances, it could happen to anybody at any time.”

Explaining that although the top layers of the stacked logs may have been dry from recent good weather, he said the ones underneath would probably have been wet and slippy adding: “It was raining a few days ago, so maybe there were dry logs on top – but wet ones underneath, and the weight might make them slippery, like a bar of soap.”

The area where the incident happened is part of the Barcaldine Forest, where there has been logging activity recently.

Margaret Adams, convener of the local community council, said the tragedy would have a “massive” impact on the community.

 She said logging had been going on in the area for several months, with signs up warning of the dangers.

She added: “The signs make it very clear that they don’t want people to go up because there will be heavy machinery and logs stacked.”

A spokesman for Forest Enterprise  Scotland said: “We will now focus on working with the site contractor, Tilhill Forestry, and the Health and Safety Executive as  investigations into this tragic incident continue.”