River search for Leeds man missing after work bash - Yorkshire Evening Post

[Robbo]

River search for Leeds man missing after work bash

Police search the waterways by the Royal Armouries. PIC: Simon Hulme

• by Sam Casey

A man who went missing after his work Christmas party in Leeds is feared to have fallen into the River Aire.

 

A police underwater search team was yesterday looking for Kalist Musinga, 50, who has not been seen since the early hours of Friday.

Mr Musinga is thought to have gone missing after a night out with colleagues from BPP Law School at the New Dock Bar, opposite the Royal Armouries at Leeds Dock.

Family members became concerned after he failed to return home having last been seen shortly before 1.30am on Friday outside the Holiday Inn hotel on Armouries Drive.

CCTV enquiries and searches of the local area have failed to locate him.

The Yorkshire and Humber Underwater Search and Marine Unit began a search of a stretch of the river off Armouries Drive at the back of the museum yesterday morning.

They were using specialist equipment to try to identify signs of a body.

An earlier appeal by West Yorkshire Police on social media was widely circulated as concern for Mr Musinga grew.

Twitter user Matthew Watson wrote: “Please retweet, a colleague of mine hasn’t been seen since 1.20am on Friday morning at the Royal Armouries.”

Mr Musinga, who is understood to be married, is black and was wearing a burgundy shirt, black shoes and brown or grey trousers. Det Insp Marc Bowes, of Leeds CID, said his disappearance was of particular concern as it was out of character.

The River Aire has claimed the lives of several people following nights out in recent years.

A campaign for improved safety was launched after student Gavin Terry’s death in 2008. Similar calls were made after 19-year-old Matthew Wilcox drowned two years later.

Jane Pybus, 45, of Magellan House apartments at Clarence Dock, died after drinking at a casino at the dock that same year.

And in February 2011 Robert Stoner, 30, from Swarcliffe, fell into the water near Victoria Bridge after leaving a party.

Last month a woman had to be rescued by special constable

Anyone with information should call Leeds District CID via 101, quoting log number 1663 from December 19.

 

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/river-search-for-leeds-man-missing-after-work-bash-latest-1-7015420

Edited December 23, 2014 by Robbo

[Guest]

Sad, especially at this time of year. Not good for his colleagues or family.

 

I was trying to orientate where that picture was taken but I see now it's the disused lock adjacent to Leeds Lock and must have been taken from the foot bridge that goes to the CRT offices.

[Robbo]

Sad, especially at this time of year. Not good for his colleagues or family.

 

I was trying to orientate where that picture was taken but I see now it's the disused lock adjacent to Leeds Lock and must have been taken from the foot bridge that goes to the CRT offices.

 

The photo has been taken from where the lock gates were. Angle is too low for the foot bridge. The main lock is too the right, and the extended lock gates can be seen in the distance, these are used when a boat over a certain length (64'?) needs to use the lock in which case the "disused" lock you see in the photo is part of the "main" lock.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Robbo

[keble]

Sadly there was a body (a local boater) found in the G&S in the early hours of Sat morning

[Guest]

The photo has been taken from where the lock gates were. Angle is too low for the foot bridge. The main lock is too the right, and the extended lock gates can be seen in the distance, these are used when a boat over a certain length (64'?) needs to use the lock in which case the "disused" lock you see in the photo is part of the "main" lock.

I wasn't aware of that. Cheers. We just fit in Leeds lock at 60ft plus fenders and always thought not much than that was the limit there.

 

Yes more logical ref. the photo angle.

[Pluto]

The disused lock shown is the last one surviving intact from the reconstruction of the A&CN in the 1770s, and is exactly the same size as a L&LC lock. The lock now in use alongside was built later and is slightly wider, so suitable for the 15 feet 6 inch wide keels and sloops which came to be the standard Yorkshire inland boat for many years.