Video shows canal boat falling into huge hole after Whitchurch embankment collapse

Video footage has captured the moment a boat fell into a huge hole after a canal embankment collapsed.

The incident took place in Whitchurch, Shropshire, just after 4am on Monday, with large amounts of water gushing on to surrounding land.

Three boats were affected and the fire service helped 12 people evacuate as they declared a major incident.

The clip shows the boat teetering on the brink and the sound of cracking wood, before it tips into a hole about 50m long.

Paul Smith-Storey, 58, described being woken by a "big crash" and a "massive roar of water".

"It felt like a disaster movie, especially when that boat dropped over the edge," he said.

"It's just incredible, these steel boats weigh about 17 tonnes and to see the force of water just carry that over the edge is quite scary."

Another boat owner, Phil Johnson, 56, said water was flying past at "horrendous speed" and he saw the boat "teetering on the edge" before slowly disappearing.

"It's awful to say but it reminded me of that horrible scene from the Titanic film, because 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.

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There were no injuries and the fire service said people had realised the water level was dropping and started evacuating before they arrived.

One of the three boats that didn't fall in - but was left precariously overhanging the hole - was winched to safety late on Tuesday, said Shropshire Council.

A plan to recover the other two will continue in the new year, while the Canal and River Trust said repair work on the embankment was likely to take at least six months.

(c) Sky News 2025: Video shows canal boat falling into huge hole after Whitchurch embankment collapse