A man killed in an apparent shooting accident on a rural estate was a prominent Italian businessman.
Marco Cavola died after a gun was fired at him by mistake on a hunters’ trip to the Rossie Estate in Perthshire.
Emergency services were scrambled to the area near the hamlet of Kinnaird in the Carse of Gowrie, Inchture, on Monday morning.
The 42-year-old father-of-three had travelled to Scotland for a pigeon-shooting mini-break with two friends.
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A rifle was accidentally discharged at about 11.30am on Monday and Cavola was hit, according to reports in Italy’s Castelli Notizie newspaper.
Despite an ambulance rapid response unit, trauma team and a manager’s efforts, Cavola was declared dead a short time later.
A report stated Cavola lived in Lariano, about 30 miles from Rome.
He is survived by a wife, two daughters aged 12 and 14, and a seven-year-old son.
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Italian authorities were sent to Scotland to oversee the return of his body when it is released.
A postmortem was carried out yesterday afternoon and police were waiting for formal identification by the family.
A man living nearby said: “I heard it was a group of Italians who were out shooting pigeons and a gun’s gone off accidentally.”
A police spokesman said: “We can confirm a man has died. Inquiries are at an early stage.”
