Austrian Rupert Riedl, whose Scottish wife Bridget went missing last week after an accident in a Peruvian river, talks of the events leading up to the canoeing tragedy.
"At the time it was fine," says Rupert Riedl, a PE teacher who was on an eight-month adventure holiday with his wife and their three children.
They had taken a canoe on the Vilcanota river, in
"All the information we had about the river was that
it was one, maybe one plus (in white water rafting
Mr Riedl managed to pull his three children into the canoe
"I also walked down a little bit and it
wasn't really difficult. It was really bad luck that
the boat dipped into an eddy (the river's counter current)."
The eddy current caused the boat to capsize, sending
Mr Riedl, his wife and three children into the
Despite not wearing a life-jacket, he
managed to haul Yannik, four, two-year-old Fabio and
Olivia, one, back into the inflatable canoe. The children all had life jackets on.
Yannik said he saw his mother - who was also without
a life jacket - on a nearby rock soon after,
something local farmers confirmed.
But the currents were strong and by the time help arrived on the scene,
Mrs Riedl-Laing was nowhere to be found.
It has now been more than three days since she was last
Major Jose Manuel Cabeda from the neighbouring Quispicanchis police force said it was impossible Mrs Riedl-Laing could be found alive.
Sitting in an armchair at the Austrian consular's
residence in Cusco, where he and his children have
been staying, Mr Reidl told the BBC how he and his
children were coping.
"They're fine," he said, as Yannik darted in and out
the room with paintings, one of which had the word
"mum" written across the bottom.
"They know all about it, that mummy is not here anymore. For me, it is
Mrs Riedl-Laing led an active life
"It is still hard now, but it will get harder, when normal life goes on because now everyone's helpful, but after a couple of weeks or a month, when you're at home, alone...I can't be a mum you know - I'm a father and that's what I will miss."
Following his interview with the BBC, Mr Riedl was
joined by firefighters leading the search.
They tried to help him recall any details that may have slipped
his mind about where the accident occurred.
At first light on Saturday morning, teams of fire fighters and local helpers resumed their search for Mrs Riedl-Laing.
The trouble is there are so many currents in and
around the area, that some locals have suggested she
could have been dragged up to 70km away.
Mr Riedl's parents-in law are due to fly into Cusco on
Their grandchildren, meanwhile, are apparently
so used to sleeping in the Volkswagen combi van that
has been their home for the past few months, that
they prefer it to the home of the Austrian Consular
They spent their first evening as his guest sleeping in the garage.