Man dies in river tragedy

The 52-year-old Dewsbury man was pulled out of the river, unconscious, on Sunday, but died on Wednesday.

Firefighters were called at 10.14am on Sunday after reports that a man was in the river near Sainsbury’s in Railway Street, Dewsbury.

They used a large hook to pull the man out of the water, near Bretton Street, towards the Model Aero Club.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance lifted the man across the river and onto Sands Lane playing fields, where he was taken by ambulance to Dewsbury and District Hospital.

Specialist water rescue engines from fire stations in Leeds and Wakefield also attended.

Dewsbury watch commander Peter May said: “We decided to split our attendance, with one engine going down Sands Lane and the other going down Mill Street East.

“As a result of quick thinking, we managed to get the casualty up on to the riverbank. Fire crews gave CPR until a specialist ambulance crew got to him.

“The air ambulance arrived to transport him to the nearby Sands Lane playing fields, and from there he was taken to Dewsbury Hospital.”

He said: “We don’t know how he ended up in the river. All we had to do was get him out.”

An inquest into the man’s death is due to open at Bradford Coroner’s Court today.