Man drowns going back to sinking boat to collect cash

A MAN drowned after trying to retrieve a bag of cash from his sinking narrowboat.

Alan Green, who was in his 40s, had rescued his mother and his dog from the stricken vessel, and was trying to retrieve a bag containing a large amount of cash when he got trapped in the boat as it went through a lock, his friends said. He had been saving the money to buy a new canal boat.

The alarm was raised on Monday at lock five on the Droitwich Junction Canal in Worcestershire. The lock was drained before firefighters could board the narrowboat, called Sandscout. Mr Green was dragged out and pronounced dead at the scene.

Police confirmed another woman and man who had got off the boat received “precautionary treatment”.

Yesterday, one woman, who came to lay flowers at the scene, said: “They were off to buy a new boat and therefore were carrying a lot of cash.

“But after the boat started to sink he climbed back aboard to retrieve the cash and obviously couldn’t get off.”

The canal was constructed in 1854 to link the town’s Barge Canal with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.