More canal deaths

PEOPLE are ignoring the dangers of swimming in the canals, with more and more rescues, but the rescue at Brighouse was too late.

Two men were thought to have been swimming in the Calder & Hebble at Brighouse, but though one climbed out, the other was pulled from the water, and worked on by paramedics, which has prompted the emergency services to issue yet another warning to would-be swimmers. Alan Tilbury relates.

It was a major operation with rescue crews from Brighouse, Leeds and Rothwell, with support crews from Elland and Cleckheaton, being despatched after a towpath walker raised the alarm, but the man pulled out, later died at hospital.

This was the third water rescue West Yorkshire firefighters have attended within two days, with a spokesman warning:

"We would like to reiterate the dangers of entering rivers and canals. These waterways have hidden dangers and so we would urge people not to enter them, regardless of how tempting they may look in the warm weather."

Another drowning

A MAN'S body was pulled out of the Rochdale Canal in Manchester, after reports that it had been seen floating in the water.

The body was recovered, and enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding his death.

One rescued

A DRUNK man however was rescued, when police discovered him flat-out in a small childs' polystyrene boat on the Ouse in York.

Fire crews were able to pull the boat and the man to safety.

Another rescued

A MAN and woman were rescued from the Calder near Chantry Bridge at Wakefield,  by policeman PC Matthew Jackson, after diving into the river after responding to an emergency call.

The woman was clinging to a boom  across the river, and Mathew managed to get her and a man who was attempting to rescue her, to the river bank.

Both the man and the woman were taken to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield where the woman, aged 31, was kept in but the man, aged 37, released.

Six fire engines attended the scene.