The body of a boater who fell overboard in Harecastle Tunnel at about 1.15pm on Tuesday 20 May has been recovered from the Trent & Mersey Canal.
Michael Holgate, aged 58, from Windermere in Cumbria, apparently fell from the boat, on which he lived with his wife while travelling through the 2,926-yard tunnel.
Staffordshire police officers and firefighters helped by a specialist underwater search team from Nottinghamshire Police in recovering the body. The tunnel was closed until the following morning to enable searches to take place overnight but was then reopened.
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said the coroner had been informed and Mr Holgate’s death was not being treated as suspicious but as an accident and officers were supporting his wife.
Inspector Andrew Shackleton said: “It was a very difficult environment to work in. It was cramped and very dark inside the tunnel and radio communication was limited. This was an unfortunate, tragic accident.”
Harecastle Tunnel is a major engineering feature of the Trent & Mersey Canal north of Stoke-on-Trent and both privately owned and holiday hire boats navigate it daily without incident.
Canal & River Trust waterway manager David Baldacchino said – “We are deeply upset about the tragic incident in which a man died after falling into the water at Harecastle Tunnel and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time. We will do everything we can to assist the emergency services in discovering the circumstances which led to this tragic incident.”
Thanks to Harry Arnold and Waterway Images for this report and photo.
