22 January 2024 , 14:58
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A man has died after falling down a manhole in Bradford when safety barriers were destroyed by 80mph winds in the middle of Storm Isha.
The victim, who has not been named, is believed to have suffered a fatal head injury after plunging into the exposed hole. He was discovered shortly after 7.15am today but is thought to have fallen hours earlier, when winds topping 80mph battered the north of England.
Emergency services were called to Highgate Road, Bradford, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. A neighbour said barriers surrounding the manhole had been blown "all over the place". He said: "From what I've been told a man was leaving the pub and he's fallen into the hole and banged his head. It happened late last night and I think I must have walked past him on my way to work.
"Those holes are much deeper than you think and the barriers are there for a reason. But the winds were horrific and had blown them all over the place. The winds might have even blown the poor chap into the hole. It's heartbreaking to think that he had been there all night."
Another resident, who asked not to be named, described the tragedy as a "freak accident".
Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts
See our live weather coverage of Storm Isha here
In a brief statement, West Yorkshire Police confirmed: "At 7.19 this morning officers were called by the ambulance service to reports of a concern for safety at Highgate Road, Queensbury. A man was pronounced dead at the scene. The man’s death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner in due course."
Four people have been killed in the devastation caused by Storm Isha as the entire UK remains on alert and people are being advised not to travel with trains cancelled, trees falling onto roads and planes delayed. A Met Office yellow warning of strong wind remained in force until noon, with warnings of gusts of 50-60mph inland and up 80mph in exposed coastal areas.
Transport Scotland said a gust of 107mph was recorded on the Tay Bridge and the Met Office said there was one of 84mph at Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire. The strongest winds were recorded in Capel Curig, Wales, yesterday afternoon, while similar gust strength was seen in Loftus, North Yorkshire and Brizlee Wood, near Alnwick in Northumberland, and Emley in Huddersfield.
A man in his 60s was killed in an incident involving two vans and the tree in Limavady, Co Londonderry, on Sunday night, according to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The man had been driving a Vauxhal Vivaro. The driver of the other van - a Citroen Berlingo - was taken to hospital and police have appealed for witnesses.
Two people, a man and a woman, were killed in two separate road accidents in Ireland. The male, in his 40s, died in a car crash in Mayo while the other victim, a woman in her 20s, was a passenger in a van which hit a tree in Co Louth earlier this morning. We earlier reported a man, 84, was killed when a van hit a fallen tree in Scotland