Body of man seen floating in Hampstead Heath men’s bathing pond

Police are seaching for the body of a man reportedly seen floating under the water in one of Hampstead Heath’s male bathing ponds.

Around 30 firefighters and three fire rescue units were initially sent to the scene at 5.42pm. They scoured the pond for more than 90 minutes using three boats, but were unable to locate a body. They have since handed the scene over to the police.

London Fire Brigade station manager Sam Kazmanli, who was at the scene, said his teams “carried out a methodical search” to no avail, “despite our best efforts”.

The brigade handed the scene over to police at 7.27pm.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman told the Ham&High at around 7.50pm that its marine support unit was present at the scene and dealing with the incident, but no body had been recovered.

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