Reading Chronicle | News | Body found in Thames

Friday, 16th May, 2008

Published: Thursday, 8th May, 2008 16:00

Body found in Thames

POLICE divers have retrieved the body of a man in his 30's from the River Thames near Thames Valley Business Park.

The man, yet to be identified, is believed to have got into difficulty in the water near Wokingham Waterside Centre last night at around 8.20pm

The body was pulled from the river at 12.30pm today and has been taken to the mortuary at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. The coroner's office has been informed of the death.

Bystander Mark Saunders was taking a break from a St John Ambulance training course at Wokingham Waterside Centre last night.

He said: "We were standing on the veranda at the centre when someone came along and said there was someone in the water. So myself and a colleague sprinted along the towpath and when we got there, there was a man standing naked in the river shouting that his friend had tried to swim across to the far bank and hadn't resurfaced. But no-one actually saw what happened.

"It was a few hundred yards downstream of the Waterside Centre, heading in the direction of Maidenhead."

Police and fire officers were called to the scene. Two fire engines from Wokingham and Wargrave attended, along with a rescue support vehicle from Slough and a rescue boat from Caversham Road fire station.

Fire crews searched for the man using the boat for around an hour, before handing over to police, who resumed the search at 8.30am this morning.

Thames Valley Police spokeswoman Rebecca Webber said: "Officers searched as best they could, but as it was getting dark there was little they could do.

"A special search and rescue team have been down there since early this morning."

Ends.

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