Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Search called off for man who fell into River Thames near Westminster Bridge as people gather for attack vigil

Two people reportedly fall into water in separate incidents on same day

Harriet Agerholm
Wednesday 29 March 2017 06:52 EDT
Comments
Police officer looks for a person thought to have fallen from Westminster Bridge
Police officer looks for a person thought to have fallen from Westminster Bridge (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Emergency services have called off a search for a man believed to have jumped into the River Thames from Westminster Bridge, the Metropolitan Police said.

The incident happened as people gathered to hold a vigil to honour the victims of last Wednesday's London terror attack.

Scotland Yard said a response team was called to sighting of the man – reportedly in his mid-twenties – shortly before 11.30am on Wednesday.

Westminster Bridge was closed and London Fire Brigade said they searched the water as far as Lambeth Bridge.

Fire engines, police and rescue boats rushed to the scene after a member of the public reported the incident, but they were unable to locate him.

A Twitter user called Isa who said they were in an office overlooking the incident said: "Watching the scenes at Westminster Bridge atm (at the moment), it's reassuring to see how quickly and meticulously the emergency services have responded."

In a separate incident, at 13.11 on Wednesday, a woman was recovered from the water after falling from the south-east corner of Westminster Bridge.

She is safe and is being treated by London Ambulance Service and will be dealt with under the Mental Health Act, Scotland Yard said.

A minute's silence will be held at 2.40pm as part of the memorial marking one week since the Westminster attack. Police officers are set to form a human chain with members of the public.

A 29-year-old woman remains in a critical condition after she fell some 50 feet into the Thames from the bridge during the attack in which Khalid Masood drove into pedestrians.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in