A major incident was declared in Shropshire after a dramatic canal breach created a vast sinkhole that swallowed two narrowboats, with horrified witnesses comparing the scene to a disaster movie.
'Like a Horrible Scene from Titanic'
The incident occurred on the Llangollen Canal near the New Mills Lift Bridge in Whitchurch in the early hours of Monday, December 22. Narrowboat owner Phil Johnson, 56, was awoken by the sound of "cracking and banging." Upon investigating, he was met with the sight of water rushing past at a "horrendous speed" and the sound of a waterfall.
He described seeing one boat already lodged in the breach before a second vessel slowly teetered on the edge and plunged in. "It’s awful to say but it reminded me of that horrible scene from the Titanic film," Mr Johnson said. "That’s what it was like, when the back goes down and the bow comes up, and it finally just slid into the hole." He added that returning to his own boat to fetch clothes was one of the scariest moments of his life, fearing it would tip over.
Narrow Escape for Local Boater
Another local boater, Paul Smith-Storey, 58, recounted a fortunate escape. He revealed he had nearly moved his own boats to the exact spots where the two vessels were consumed, just the day before the breach. He described hearing a "massive roar of water" before discovering the shocking sinkhole.
"The scary thing is we nearly moved our boats to those two spots yesterday," Mr Smith-Storey stated. "Thankfully we didn’t. We’re just thankful that the people on those boats had gotten off safely." He emphasised the terrifying power of the event, noting that the steel narrowboats weighed around 17 tonnes each.
Emergency Response and Community Safety
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene at approximately 4.20am. Firefighters safely led 12 people away from the area. Fire service area manager Scott Hurford said it was "extremely fortunate" no one was injured, highlighting the potential danger to public footpaths popular with dog walkers and the community.
Mr Hurford noted that while crews were experienced with flooding, a breach on the canal network presented a unique challenge. The full cause of the canal breach and the subsequent sinkhole is likely to be investigated by the relevant authorities and the Canal & River Trust.
