EFFORTS to find a man feared drowned has been revealed following a multi-agency search and rescue attempt.
Police were called at around 6.38am on Sunday to the report of a man and a woman in the water at the River Kent, Sedgwick.
Police said the woman was located out of the water and taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary with minor injuries and has since been discharged, however the man is still believed to be missing.
Attempts to find the man, who is in his 40s from the local area, continued today at the River Kent.
Fire crews from Barrow and Ulverston joined in efforts to search the river on Sunday.
They were joined by numerous other emergency services including North West Ambulance Service, Mountain Rescue, Bay Search and Rescue and the Coastguard.
Barrow Fire Station watch manager Jamie Coward said: “Our response included four appliances and two managers.
"We were first called out following concerns towards the welfare of a man potentially in the water.
"Based on the information that we had, we searched from the bridge at Sedgwick to the estuary at Morecambe Bay.
"Once we were happy that a comprehensive search had been carried out, lasting until 10.30am, we stepped down."
Mr Coward also added that due to the levels of the water they were unable to confirm whether someone was in it.
He said: "Due to the levels of the water we couldn't confirm whether someone was in the water.
"Also, due to the nature of the river we would have been putting staff lives at risk."
Efforts to find the missing man continued yesterday but Mr Coward stated that if he had been in the water for this length of time there would have been 'zero per cent chance of survival'.
Mr Coward also wished to commend all the efforts of everyone involved in the search and rescue attempt.
He said: "This was a fantastic response to this incident from all emergency services.
"We committed our resources to the search effort and it was an amazing effort with a multi-agency response."
Both Duddon and Furness Mountain Rescue Team and Kendal Mountain Rescue Team were also called out.
A spokesperson from Kendal Mountain Rescue Team said: “Due to the nature of the incident we received assistance from both Duddon and Furness MRT and the Cave Rescue Organisation who each provided five additional SRT trained personnel.
“All three emergency services were in attendance along with MCA support and Bay Rescue.
“Teams were stood down after searches were conducted along the riverbanks and the estuary.”
A police investigation remains under way to ascertain what happened.
Police are urging anyone who might have witnessed anything to contact them on 101, quoting incident number 165 of August 11.
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