A PENSIONER died yesterday after drowning in the River Wear.
The 65-year-old man, who has not been named but who comes from South Yorkshire, was seen going into the river by a water bailiff shortly after 12.20pm yesterday lunchtime.
The incident sparked a huge search by emergency services of the riverbanks in the Hunwick area of Crook, County Durham.
Police officers and fire crews from Crook and Bishop Auckland, supported by the police helicopter, an RAF Sea King helicopter and members of the Weardale Search and Rescue team, searched the riverbanks for more than an hour looking for the missing man. Shortly before 1.30pm, a police officer found a body in the river and it was recovered from the water by the crew of the Sea King.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: "Police are not treating the incident as suspicious."
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