Two men drown and one is missing feared dead after going swimming at beauty spot weir on the River Thames in Berkshire
- Two men have drowned after going swimming in the Thames in Berkshire today
- Incident took place near Odney Weir at Cookham near Maidenhead
- Thames Valley Police are due to comment on the incident this evening
Two men have drowned in the Thames and a third has been rushed to hospital after going swimming at a beauty spot weir in Berkshire.
Eyewitnesses said that two men aged in their late 30s or early 40s have drowned close to Odney Weir at Cookham near Maidenhead.
It is believed the group of men, all Asian, had been taking a dip in the cooling water and got swept away by a strong current.
Senior police, along with crews from the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the South Central Ambulance Service, are at the scene.
Paramedics are at an incident at Odney Weir in Cookham, Berkshire this evening
South Central Ambulance said it is supporting Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue, Thames Valley Police along with the air ambulance in Cookham
A bystander, who had earlier been with boys at the river bank said that they had earlier seen the three men jumping off the weir and doing backflips into the water.
‘That was about 4.30pm. Later, after we had left the riverside, we heard loads of police sirens and came rushing back,’ they said.
The third man had been taken to hospital. His condition is not yet known.
Local residents in Cookham said there were at least 40 emergency vehicles present, including police, ambulance vehicles, and fire engines.
One man was rescued by a fisherman who jumped in and dragged him to safety, witnesses said, while the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue service launched river boats to recover the other two bodies.
A witness, 16-year-old Mallory Cairns, told how he and a few of his young friends had been swimming alongside the men earlier in the day.
South Central Ambulance said it is supporting Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue, Thames Valley Police along with the air ambulance in Cookham
Mallory said: ‘One member of the public, who was a fisherman, pulled one of them out of the river and that guy survived. The other two died.
‘We are presuming they have been found because they are clearing up now. Earlier we saw the rescue service launching boats to find a body.
‘The fisherman has now gone but I think he was talking to the police.
‘The three men jumped into the Thames for fun, they were pleasure jumping. We were together down there all day. We were jumping in with them, they were just chilling, having a nice summer’s day out after lockdown.
‘They did not look like they were good swimmers but they were jumping, doing dives and backflips. They were nice guys, we spoke with them but they spoke only broken English – things like “hello”, “thank you”, “please”, “goodbye”.
‘Every year someone dies here, every single year. The undercurrent in this river is one of the strongest on the Thames and it is pretty dangerous.’