Eight people already lost their lives to drowning in Manchester's city-region waters in as many months. As of August 31 this year, eight people have died in the city's waters. Over the past five years, that death toll amounts to a staggering 66 - with a five-year record high of fifteen deaths recorded in 2021.
Disaster has struck on every occasion, prompting Greater Manchester's Fire and Rescue Service to repeatedly issue warnings about swimming in open water during the hot spells of 2022 to prevent the tragedies happening again. Many of those who have died so far this year, were only teenagers with their lives ahead of them.
This summer, emergency services swarmed to Salford Quays in July, where 16-year-old Kalen Waugh lost his life after swimming with friends in the water. Tributes were paid following his death, from both friends and his school, with balloons tied to a bench and flowers left at the waterside.
In Stalybridge, schoolgirl Lucy Smith, aged just 14 was pulled from the waters in Stalybridge after getting into difficulty. Specialist search teams spent hours scouring the water on August 15 as devastated locals watched on from the cordon. In similar scenes, heartfelt tributes were left on the waters' edge, with flowers and photographs laid on the ground.
And another 16-year-old, Jamie Lewin, became the third person to lose their life in a quarry in Appley Bridge, near Wigan. The Southport teens body was recovered by police from East Quarry at Dawber Delph in Appley Bridge on Saturday, July 9. His family remembered him as a 'one in a million son'.
A new Greater Manchester plan, as reported by the Manchester Evening News , is now to be created to reduce the tragic toll of drownings in canals , rivers and other open water. Latest figures released by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service revealed the canals and rivers in central Manchester and Salford have had the highest number of incidents in Greater Manchester, followed by the canal and river Douglas in central Wigan.
The causes of deaths by drowning are varied, but the research showed that three main factors were people entering water while under the influence of drink or drugs, swimming to 'cool off' on hot days, and suicide. The fire service has already issued repeated appeals throughout the summer of this year, urging people to stop entering open water during summer spells and warning of cold water shock.
The figures revealed that 66 people have lost their lives to waters in the city-region since 2017, with more people killed by drowning than in fires in 2021. As of August 31 this year, eight people in Manchester have died after drowning. Research has also shown that young men aged 17 to 24 are the group of people most at risk.
Repeated calls for water safety have been made so far this year. Emergency services were called out to Rumworth Lodge in Bolton on July 17 - less than 24 hours after Kalen Waugh drowned in Salford Quays, with groups of kids still flocking to 'death trap' quarry in Appley Bridge just three days after the waters there claimed a third life.
The summit aims to create a new Greater Manchester Water Safety Partnership and a new strategy for the city-region. Safety measures have been introduced in central Manchester in recent years and other parts of the city-region have also taken action, but now organisations are set to work together across the whole of Greater Manchester.
Safety measures were implemented in central Manchester following a detailed review by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. They have included better lighting along canal towpaths and entrances, barriers fitted at towpath entry points and over lock crossings to prevent people accidentally falling in and signposting people to safe crossing points.
Further measures also including supporting developers to provide safe canal-side public areas when designing new homes, restaurants and bars, ensuring many more rescue throwlines are available and that people who work in night-time venues are trained to use them and working with universities to help students be safe on nights out.
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