j.m@talk
01-09-2005, 08:01 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - A man has been swept away in a river in the north of England as gales and heavy rain battered many parts of the country, police say.
The man was carried away down the River Aire at Apperley Bridge, near Bradford, on Saturday.
"Police, fire brigade and ambulance attended and even though police did see the man briefly he was carried away by the fast-flowing river," said a West Yorkshire Police spokesman on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, due to access problems and the dangerous state of the river nobody was able to get close enough to render any assistance."
Police were also investigating three deaths in the Carlisle area, though they were unable to confirm whether they had died due to the extreme weather conditions.
In Cumbria, emergency services rescued hundreds of people from their houses after a local river burst its banks on Saturday, swamping Carlisle with its worst floods for 40 years and cutting electricity from 76,000 homes.
Royal Air Force helicopters were called in to airlift families from the tops of farmhouses and waterlogged vehicles after floodwater knocked out the city's main electricity sub-station.
The Environment Agency issued over 100 flood warnings as gales of up to 120 miles (195 km) an hour swept across the country.
One motorway was closed after 25 trucks were blown over by the strong winds, the agency said.
A passenger ferry carrying 100 people ran aground on Scotland's west coast, and officials said tug boats would not be able to reach the stricken ship until Sunday because of the weather.
None of the passengers or crew was injured when the P&O Highlander hit a sandbank at Cairnryan.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
http://wwwi.reuters.com/images/2005-01-08T202756Z_01_DEN846143_RTRUKOP_2_PICTURE3.jpg
The man was carried away down the River Aire at Apperley Bridge, near Bradford, on Saturday.
"Police, fire brigade and ambulance attended and even though police did see the man briefly he was carried away by the fast-flowing river," said a West Yorkshire Police spokesman on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, due to access problems and the dangerous state of the river nobody was able to get close enough to render any assistance."
Police were also investigating three deaths in the Carlisle area, though they were unable to confirm whether they had died due to the extreme weather conditions.
In Cumbria, emergency services rescued hundreds of people from their houses after a local river burst its banks on Saturday, swamping Carlisle with its worst floods for 40 years and cutting electricity from 76,000 homes.
Royal Air Force helicopters were called in to airlift families from the tops of farmhouses and waterlogged vehicles after floodwater knocked out the city's main electricity sub-station.
The Environment Agency issued over 100 flood warnings as gales of up to 120 miles (195 km) an hour swept across the country.
One motorway was closed after 25 trucks were blown over by the strong winds, the agency said.
A passenger ferry carrying 100 people ran aground on Scotland's west coast, and officials said tug boats would not be able to reach the stricken ship until Sunday because of the weather.
None of the passengers or crew was injured when the P&O Highlander hit a sandbank at Cairnryan.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
http://wwwi.reuters.com/images/2005-01-08T202756Z_01_DEN846143_RTRUKOP_2_PICTURE3.jpg