Two men saved from river after night out drinking

Two men were rescued by emergency services after they were found clinging to a branch dangling in a river.

When a group of teenagers noticed one of their friends was missing during a night out drinking in Durham, they used SnapChat to track his location and found him hanging on to a fallen tree branch in the River Wear.

One of the group tried to pull him to safety but also became trapped on the branch, just inches above the water.

Their friends called 999 and emergency services arrived at the scene near Frankland Lane where they were able to lift the pair to safety.

During the 999 call, one of the group described his friend as being in "serious danger" and explained they were trying to get him out.

Officers arrived and found the teenagers in the river, struggling to stay on the branch.

One of them told the police he could only hold on for "five minutes max".

The police had a trained lifeguard among their number and, using a throw bag buoyancy aid attached to a rope, they were able to secure the pair in place until members of the fire service's water rescue team arrived.

Footage shows one of the trapped men urging officers to hurry up and arguing about how the rescue should be carried out.

When the fire service arrived they abseiled down the river bank and retrieved both men using safety harnesses.

After making it to safety, one of the men explained he had tried to grab his friend but his rescue attempt quickly went wrong.

"I tried pulling him out and he just slipped out of my hands and just dropped straight back down," he told the officer.

"You have just save one of our best friends' lives."

A spokesperson for Durham Police said working on a "slippy riverbank", in the cold, dark and rain can be difficult and disorientating, but the team "got the job done".

"One of the men was taken to hospital with hypothermia, but their biggest takeaway from the incident will be an appreciation for the dangers posed by the river," they said.

"Particularly where alcohol is involved, please remember that a situation like this can become lethal in a heartbeat."

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