Officer Still Missing After Bridge Collapse

Fri, 20 November 2009 Courtesy of: Ananova

The search is continuing for a police officer who went missing after a bridge collapsed during heavy flooding.

Cumbria Police said the male officer was unaccounted for after Northside bridge, on one of the main routes into Workington, collapsed overnight, cutting off the gas supply to the town.

A spokesman for the police said "A search operation is under way and we have assigned a liaison officer to support the family.

"This is an extremely difficult time for the officer's colleagues, who are still committed to supporting the community and dealing with the flood situation."

The spokesman said the bridge collapsed at around 4.40am.

The lifeboat searching for the missing police officer was forced back because of bad weather after three hours on Friday.

An RNLI spokesman said the boat was launched at 6.10am to search the river and sea by Workington.

RNLI lifeboat operations manager Captain Brian Ashbridge said "There is a massive current coming down through the Derwent so, although the sea isn't very rough, conditions for the RNLI volunteers searching in the river basin have been very challenging.

"It's absolutely horrendous. There is a huge amount of debris around in the water at the moment as well, which adds to the difficulties."

Two bridges have collapsed in the town where conditions are described as "extremely dangerous" after torrential rains caused rivers to burst their banks.