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.