Locked-in boater dies in fire

Published: Thursday, 22 June 2017

A BOATER who it is believed slept at the rear of his narrowboat whilst the stern door was padlocked from the outside was unable to escape and died in a fire.

This happened, whilst the boater was moored for the night near Edenderry on the Grand Canal in Ireland, with the fire alerting nearby boaters in the early hours with the emergency services contacted, local information reveals.

Securely padlocked

The authorities are withholding the name of the boater owing to difficulty in locating his next of kin, though from a published photograph taken at the time of the fire the stern door can be clearly seen securely padlocked from the outside, meaning he had no means of escape as it is the centre and front of the boat that is badly burnt.

A local boater told that the burnt-out boat had its sleeping quarters at the stern.

It is surprising the number of moored narrowboats with people inside that have their stern doors padlocked from the outside, that really is a very stupid thing to do, as they are cutting off a means of escape should anything untoward occur, especially if sleeping at the stern.