EA dredger driver dies in waterway.

Published: Thursday, 09 December 2010

A ENVIRONMENT Agency worker died when the 27 ton vehicle he was operating to dredge the Old Bedford River, collapsed into the waterway between Ely and Chatteris.

TheĀ  worker was trapped in his cab under the freezing water, and though the emergency services fought to get to the cab, and even broke its window to get his head and shoulders above water, he had already died.

The Incident Commander for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service Julian Fountain explained:

"All agencies have worked extremely closely together to make every effort to fully release the man from the water as quickly as possible, but due to the location of the crane, the freezing weather conditions and the fact that the man was trapped, this could not happen in time."

The Environment Agency is mounting an internal inquiry, and will co-operate with a Health and Safety Executive investigation.