A major road in Manchester city centre had to be closed after emergency services rushed to a bridge to reports of a "concern for welfare", performing a dramatic rescue from the canal.
Pictures from Oxford Street this evening, May 1, showed police, ambulance, and fire crews at the scene of the bridge over the river Medlock, next to the Holiday Inn near Oxford Road railway station. The Manchester Evening News understands a man had to be rescued from the canal below, with the fire service taking control of the rescue.
Images from the scene showed members of various emergency services standing around one side of the bridge between the Revolution bar and the Holiday Inn, with a lift from one of the fire engines being extended above the road over the river, which the M.E.N understands crews had to use in order to gain access to the canal above the high walls either side of the bridge.
READ MORE:
Oxford Street was closed at the junction of Charles Street and Hulme Street, the corner where the Holiday Inn sits, with the cordon stretching up towards Whitworth Street, where the Palace Theatre is located. The incident focused around a small section of the street where it crossed over the River Medlock.
An eyewitness at the scene told the M.E.N: "There were loads of police here before at the bridge and two fire engines too, I didn't see what happened but when I came out and saw them all here there was a guy in the canal. It was quite scary, I hope he's going to be okay." Another said: "The emergency services were all here because they had to rescue a guy from the canal."
Greater Manchester Police have confirmed that the incident was a "concern for welfare which was safely concluded", but have not been able to offer any updates on the condition of the man. North West Ambulance Service have been contacted for more information.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: “At approximately 5pm on Sunday, 1st May, firefighters were called to assist police at an incident on Oxford Street, in Manchester city centre.
“Two fire engines from Manchester Central and Moss Side fire stations, alongside the Technical Response Unit from Ashton, quickly attended the scene. Fire crews were in attendance for around 50 minutes.”
The road had reopened by 6.30pm, with traffic freely able to move again and the cordon completely removed from the scene.
