West Midlands canal collapse: These are the key steps investigators will take next following 'major incident' at canal
Investigators are beginning the complex task of establishing what caused the dramatic and sudden collapse of a canal in Whitchurch, Shropshire yesterday morning.
Emergency services declared a major incident after receiving reports at 4.22am on Monday of a 'sinkhole' causing large volumes of water to escape onto land in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch.
A multi-agency response involving emergency services was set up, co-ordinated through the Shropshire Tactical Co-ordination Group, to make the area safe. Luckily, no casualties were reported at the scene.
Now, investigators face the challenge of uncovering why the incident occurred in the first place.
Here is what has been confirmed from the investigation so far and what will happen next:
'Water in the surrounding fields'
Scott Hurford, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service area manager, said the scale was significant, with large volumes of water in surrounding fields.
He said: "The information we've had back is that the canal bank failed and that's what put the emergency call in.
"The water from the canal has leaked out of the canal into the surrounding fields. There's a number of canal boats that have been affected, some of those have gone into the field and some are at the bottom of the canal.”
'Inspection and lengthy repairs'
Mark Durham, the Canal & River Trust’s principal engineer, said describing the incident as a sinkhole was misleading and that an “embankment failure” was a more accurate term.
He explained the embankment was a man-made structure designed to support the canal — a role it has fulfilled for more than 200 years.
Mr Durham said it was too early to determine why the embankment failed - and that the immediate priority was to recover damaged boats and assist those stranded on either side of the breach, which would then allow engineers to carry out a detailed inspection and begin the lengthy repair process.
Mr Durham, responding to social media claims the area was checked by trust inspectors in recent weeks, said: "We have a really robust inspection scheme.
"I've spoken to two people that inspected that embankment today and I'm satisfied that there were no causes for any intervention or undue concern at the time, but it is something that we need to look into."
