The force dive team was back out on the River Trent today in a police boat using sonar technology, a week after it was reported a vehicle with two people inside had gone into the water.
Police divers’ efforts continue to be hampered due to the weather conditions and the fast flow of the river, resulting in the underwater scanning equipment being brought in.
Nottinghamshire Police, in partnership with the Environment Agency, was using underwater sonar technology today (8 February 2021) as the search continues for a car, reportedly with two occupants inside, which entered the River Trent at Hoveringham.
Officers will use the technology to ensure that the object in the water is monitored regularly. This will allow divers to locate the vehicle quickly when conditions are deemed safe to go back into the water.
The sonar technology uses sound waves to generate a detailed underwater image. The equipment, which is housed on a specially adapted boat and can be used in poor visibility conditions, is usually used by Environment Agency fisheries enforcement teams to identify illegally laid nets and traps in the water.
It can provide visual data 25m down from the surface as well as 25m each way in a horizontal direction.
The search and recovery effort has been hampered due to the fast flowing river and treacherous conditions. At this time police are unable to confirm if the object located is the vehicle involved in the incident.
It comes after a large multi-agency search and rescue operation was launched following reports at 4.13pm on Monday (1 February 2021) that a car had left Hoveringham Road and gone into the river.
Witnesses reported seeing two occupants inside. While no formal identification has taken place, police believe they know who they are and their relatives are being supported by trained officers while enquiries continue to understand the full circumstances of the incident.
Inspector Heather Sutton, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Sadly there isn’t much change since last week, with heavy rainfall and now snow not helping our search operation.
“The river is continuing to run very high and fast and visibility is low, but we are continuing our efforts to recover the object from the river despite the challenging conditions.
“I’d like to thank the Environment Agency who are supporting our search with specialist underwater camera and sonar equipment.
“We are keeping an open mind at this stage as we continue to work hard to establish the facts of how this incident happened. Our thoughts remain with the relatives who are being supported and have asked for privacy at this difficult time.
“There are not expected to be any further developments over the coming the days due the adverse weather conditions.
“Once there is an update, we will provide one but until then, I would ask that people do not speculate on what has happened.”
“If you have any information that could help us understand what has happened, please do not hesitate to contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 500 of 1 February 2021.”
