Residents near the new Lagan footbridge in South Belfast were able to pull a man to safety from the river in the early hours of this morning.
The man had gotten into difficulty after entering the water at around 1.30am, with the danger amplified by the fact he was so close to the weir and sluice gates.
"I was sleeping in the front room and all of a sudden I heard this terrible shrieking and screaming and it woke me," one nearby resident told Belfast Live.
Read more: River Lagan incident: Members of public save 'male in distress'
"I waited a while and listened to it because I thought it could have just been somebody that was drunk.
"So I came out onto the street and there was a guy and a woman there and I went down with the guy to the bridge to see what was going on.
"There were people already there that had come out and they'd found a girl - she seemed alright, but she did have a cut on her head."
The resident said it was at that stage that they realised the man was in the water, but that it was difficult due to it being so dark.
He said he believed the man in the water was in his late 20s to early 30s, while he thought the young woman was in her early 20s.
"We were shouting down at him and he was in the reeds and couldn't get out," he said.
"One of the guys got the life buoy thing and was throwing it over the top of the reeds and we were trying to direct it to him.
"But it wasn't working."
He added: "So then the guy kind of floated down under the bridge and a guy went down to the bank and leaned over the reeds and was able to grab him and pull him out.
"Only at that stage did the police arrive then."
The man told Belfast Live that the footbridge, while useful, needed the area around it to be made safer.
"You've got those locks and at night time, it's pitch black, you've got no lighting and it's just dangerous - that's it," he said.
"There is a stepladder there, but it's trying to find it in the dark, you don't stand a chance.
"I've seen kids as well jumping off the edge of the lock into the Lagan during the day.
"It's dodgy as well, because it's so near the weir and if you go into that, you've had it."
A man living nearby who helped with the rescue effort, said the woman involved was badly shaken up.
"The girl just seemed quite scared about what had happened, it was only when I had heard her screaming the word "help!" that I realised it wasn't just kids messing around," he said.
"I'm just glad everyone is alright really."
Another woman who lives in the area told Belfast Live: "I didn't look out when I heard a commotion because we've had this before and to be honest, noise is a regular feature of the footbridge and towpath area.
"I see the police coming down here and they'll stop for a while during the day when nine times out of 10, there's nothing happening."
The PSNI said the man who was pulled from the water was treated by ambulance staff and thanked those members of the public who had rescued him.
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