Police are warning young people to stay safe at the Lagan amid reports some were jumping in “for fun”.
The plea to steer clear of the river came after rescue volunteers had to pull Belsonic concert goers from the water on Thursday night.
Officers in South Belfast say they “attended a report” of young people jumping in the river at the new Stranmillis bridge that links Annadale Avenue and the Lagan towpath at Lockview Road.
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In a post on their South Belfast Facebook page on Saturday night, the PSNI said: “This evening officers from Lisburn Road Station and our colleagues in the Community Rescue Service attended a report of young people jumping into the River Lagan for fun.
"The river is subject to strong currents and is not safe for swimming at any time. We would strongly encourage the public not to partake in this activity.”
Sean McCarry from the CRN confirmed that they had attended the area following a report from a member of the public of young people “entering the water”.
He added: “When we got there there was no one in the water, but there were a few young ones about who we spoke to them just to impress on them the dangers of the water. With the hot weather at the minute people can sometimes do silly things, but everyone needs to realise the river may look ok and calm, but there are currents, branches under the water. There are so many dangers and people should definitely not be jumping in the Lagan.”
SDLP councillor in the area Gary McKeown also called for people to stay safe in the area.
He said: “I’m really concerned at reports of people jumping into the River Lagan at Stranmillis for fun. The water is deceptively deep at this location and there are rocks just below the surface at some points. Someone could very quickly get into trouble or lose their life.
“We’ve sadly seen people die in the river before, so I would urge anyone who is thinking of doing this to please stop, as it could result in tragedy for your family this summer.”
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