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Body found in River Thames at Sonning
By Laura HerbertJuly 04, 2012
Two firefighters spotted a body in the River Thames while training on the brigade’s water rescue boat.
The men were on the Thames near the French Horn hotel, in Sonning, at about 3.10pm last Thursday when they saw something in the water.
One jumped in to prevent the body from going over Sonning Weir as the other called for back-up from the rest of the unit.
Police were also called to the scene and divers carried out a search of the river before the body was retrieved.
Watch manager Dave Hawkins, from Caversham Road station, said: “The rescue boat was on the water during an assessment and the lads on the course saw something floating in the weir.
“They approached and discovered it was someone who had entered the water but they were unsure how long they might have been there.”
Police say they are not treating the death as suspicious.
The man, believed to be aged about 55, has not yet been formally identified.
- Firefighters from Caversham Road also rescued a young couple and their dog after their boat lost power and ended up washed up on the weir in Sonning, also on Thursday at around 4.15pm.
They were saved after the boat came to rest on a concrete plinth.
Another firefighter jumped in and retrieved their pet after it fell into the fast-flowing water.
The crew has warned anyone going out on the water to check engines and carry buoyancy aids.
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