Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Independent TV

Showing now | News

Video Player Placeholder
Onboard a Shropshire narrowboat as canal collapses into 160-ft sinkhole

01:34

Footage onboard Shropshire narrowboat captures moment canal collapsed into sinkhole

Watch the moment a pair of boaters raced to safety as a 160ft sinkhole opened up in Shropshire on Monday (22 December).

Emergency services declared a major incident after receiving reports of a sinkhole opening up in the early hours of the morning, as millions of gallons of water gushed onto nearby land. Two boats were swallowed up by the chasm.

After being woken up by a loud crash, YouTubers Paul and Anthony from Narrowboat Life Unlocked made a quick exit from their vessel, after “everything inside the boat started falling over”.

Footage shows the fast-moving water being drawn into the sinkhole.

Back in their boat following the “embankment failure”, Paul became emotional as he shared that a man inside one of the sunken boats, Bob, managed to escape.

Up next

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in