The four crew members of the fishing boat which sank off the Western Isles of Scotland made it to their life raft but only one made it to the shore, according to a senior fishermen's charity figure.

Two bodies were found after the Louisa sank early on Saturday morning, and one man remains missing.

Another crew member was airlifted to hospital and was said to have escaped serious injury.

Finlay Macleod, superintendent at the Fisherman's Mission in Stornoway, said all four of the men made it to the life raft.

He said: "They were all being supported by the life raft as the vessel sank but the water was too cold and two crew members reached the conclusion that if they had stayed with the life raft, as they are taught to do, then hypothermia would have set in.

"They saw the shore and they thought they could try for it. Sadly only one reached it.

"Everybody's really traumatised. It's an absolute tragedy.

"On behalf of the mission I've been in touch with all the families concerned in Lewis and Harris. My colleague in Scrabster has been in contact with the family of the crewman in Thurso who didn't survive. We're reaching out to them."

The coastguard received a distress alert just before 3.45am on Saturday, and the Stornoway-registered crabber's emergency positioning beacon was activated near Mingulay.

Following the discovery of the bodies an air and sea search for the remaining missing man was scaled back and the Barra Lifeboat stood down shortly before 6.30pm.

Tributes to the crew have been posted online.

Clyde Fisherman's Association (CFA) wrote: "On behalf of all of the CFA our thoughts are with the crew, family & friends of the Louisa. RIP to those brave men who lost their lives."

On Saturday, search efforts for the missing fisherman continued, with the Police Scotland helicopter being used in the operation.

Chief Inspector Alastair Garrow said: "All of the partners are determined to do everything they can to help the family and the community deal with this tragedy.

"Police Scotland have an enquiry team working alongside other agencies and the known circumstances will be reported to the procurator fiscal. There will be further investigations necessary to fully establish what has happened."

Police Scotland and the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch will carry out a joint investigation into the incident and report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

A Maritime & Coastguard Agency spokeswoman said the vessel went down with the four crew on board in relatively calm weather conditions.