Emergency services called to major incident near Wearmouth Bridge in Sunderland

Crews from Sunderland Coastguard and Sunderland Inshore Rescue Team were called out at about 7am yesterday to reports of a person in the water at the River Wear.

After carrying out a search of the area, volunteers from the Sunderland RNLI say they were able to recover the casualty onto the lifeboat and administer emergency care.

The person was taken to Sunderland Marina by boat, where they were then treated by paramedics.

North East Ambulance Service confirmed that it sent three crews from its Hazardous Response Team and one ambulance to the scene.

A spokesperson for North East Ambulance Service said: “We got a call at 6.53am to reports of a person in the water in the Wearmouth Bridge area. We sent three Hazardous Response Teams and one ambulance. The RNLI was also on the scene and helped to retrieve the patient.

“One patient was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital.”

A spokesperson for Sunderland RNLI said: “Both boats launched on service as part of a multi-agency response to reports of a person in the water in the River Wear.

“After carrying out a search of the area our volunteers located and recovered the casualty onto the lifeboat.

“Once onboard the casualty was given casualty care by our crew and taken to Sunderland Marina before being transferred into the care of paramedics.

“Unfortunately due to the nature of this incident we will be unable to provide any further updates.”

Officers from Northumbria Police were also at the scene.