A man has told of his escape after waking up just in time to raise the alarm as his canal boat and others' boats were swallowed up by a rapidly emerging giant hole.
Emergency services declared a serious incident after a 50-metre crater, initially described by emergency services and other agencies as a sinkhole, tore through the Llangollen Canal in England's West Midlands, leaving boats teetering on the edge of a steep cliff or stuck at the bottom of the depression.
Bob Wood, 75, said he was sleeping on his boat when the hole appeared, but woke up in time to jump off and alert those in the boat next to him by hitting the side with a hammer.
“I was sleeping in the boat and I thought I needed to go to the bathroom, so I stood up and thought, 'We're leaning over a little bit,'” he said. “I thought I was in the middle of a big storm. The sound of a large amount of water was heard.
“I opened the back door to see why we were listing and realized it wasn't raining at all and the water was running under the boat. I jumped on the back and got off and that's when the thing came crashing down. The back end went up eight feet in the air and I landed on the front of the boat.”
Wood docked his boat, which he has lived on for eight years, Sunday evening. He said he saw it go down, bow first, and that his neighbor got out just in time before his ship sank backwards.
When the collapse began, other people nearby thought they had been hit by an earthquake, and there were fears that water would flood the nearby town of Whitchurch into Shropshire.
West Mercia Police said no injuries were reported and people were treated by firefighters.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said it received reports of the canal bank collapsing at around 4.22am, causing large volumes of water to leak onto the surrounding land. “Three boats were trapped in a developing crater measuring approximately 50 by 50 meters and crews assisted more than 10 members of the public to safety,” the statement said.
“Firefighters worked in difficult conditions with unstable ground and fast-moving water. Crews immediately established safety sectors upstream and downstream and began mitigating the flow of water using barges and water lock systems.”
Scott Hurford, the fire service's regional manager, said about 12 residents from boats moored nearby were supported and transferred to a welfare center at the former Whitchurch police station.
He added: “A major incident was declared at 5:17 a.m. However, as of 8:30 a.m. the situation was stable, water flow had decreased and no search and rescue operations were underway.”
The breach occurred on the Llangollen Canal near the New Mills Lift Bridge in Whitchurch. The canal was among those marked as a “yellow risk” by the Inland Waterways Association this year.
An independent charity has mapped Britain's network of canals and rivers, which are under strain due to lack of funding and growing climate pressures, and noted those at particular financial and environmental risk.
Areas of concern included the Midlands, where higher-lying reservoirs feed several canal systems and where droughts are expected to worsen.
The Canal and River Trust, a charity that maintains 2,000 miles of historic canals and rivers in England and Wales, said it was investigating the cause of Monday's incident and working with agencies to restore water levels on either side of the breach as quickly as possible.
At the scene, Sho Abdul, cabinet member for Shropshire County Council, told reporters that Shropshire Star newspaper: “There are three or four boats that suffered from the failure, which happened quickly. The absence of casualties is an absolute miracle.
“We were so shocked when we saw it. It's a real crater, it's devastating, especially for the people who use the area frequently.”
