River Thames rescue: Lifeboat teams search river near Hampton Court Bridge after 'casualty seen to enter water'

'Still searching'

A Surrey Police spokesman confirmed that officers are “still searching” for the person.

Police divers have been seen by the River Thames near Hampton Court Bridge.

Surrey Police take charge

Surrey Police has taken charge of the incident.

The force says it will provide an update on the situation shortly.

Two people were in the river

Two people were in the River Thames at around 4am today, it has been revealed.

London Ambulance Service say paramedics was called to the scene at around 4.20am and they found one of them had managed to get out of the icy water.

However, another person was still in the water when they arrived.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: “We were called at 4.21am on Friday to reports of two people in the River Thames near Hampton Court Bridge.

“We sent a single responder in a car, an incident response officer and our hazardous area response team (HART).
“One patient declined treatment at the scene and our teams were stood down at 6.21am.”

A photograph of this morning's operation

Surrey Search and Rescue volunteers also took part in this morning’s search and rescue operation.

Person not found within 90 minutes

The RNLI lifeboat crews are no longer searching for the casualty. They were stood down after 90 minutes.

An RNLI spokesman said that 90 minutes is “a notional maximum time a casualty is considered potentially viable for if recovered and treated”.

The river was "fast flowing at high tide"

The RNLI say the River Thames was “fast flowing” and “at high tide” when they launched this morning to look for the missing person.

There is still no sign of the missing person.

'The operation has been handed over to The Met'

An RNLI spokeswoman confirmed that a lifeboat crew from Teddington launched on the River Thames this morning and took part in the search and rescue operation.

She added: “At this point we don’t have anymore details of the operation. The operation has been handed over to The Met.”

What we know so far

• Police and RLNI lifeboat crews were called to the River Thames near Hampton Court Bridge at 4.20am
• Reports suggested there was a person in the water
• A multi-agency search and rescue operation got underway
• Firefighters and a police helicopter crew joined the search shortly before 5am
• So far, they have been unable to find the person

Details from police

A spokesman for the Marine Policing Unit said: “All we can confirm is that a call was received at 4.20am to a person in the water at Hampton, which initiated a multi-agency search and rescue operation. Unfortunately, the casualty was not located and remains outstanding.”

No sign of the missing person

Emergency services have not found the casualty in the River Thames yet.

We have contacted The Metropolitan Police Service, London Ambulance Service and the RNLI for more details on the incident.

Lifeboat crews dispatched

Lifeboat crews from RNLI were dispatched shortly after 4.20am this morning.

We have contacted the charity for more details.

Emergency services on the scene

Police, a police helicopter crew, firefighters and RNLI lifeboat crews have all joined the search.

A firefighter from Epsom fire station said: “We got called to a person in the river, at around 4.55am, at Hampton Court.

“We got there with three or four appliances from London and us. RNLI were there searching in their boats too.”

He added: “They’re probably still there looking for them.”

Casualty seen in the water

A “multi agency search and rescue operation” is well underway in East Molesey this morning after a “casualty was seen to enter the water”, according to the police’s Marine Policing Unit.

Good Morning Surrey

Hello all - we will be bringing you live updates on this developing situation near Hampton Court bridge this morning. More as we get it.