FLORAL tributes and candles have been left by the banks of the River Ouse, after a man died this weekend.
North Yorkshire Police have not yet formally identified the 20-year-old who entered the river from Ouse Bridge early on Sunday, but he has been named locally as Christian Palmer.
An arrangement of candles spelling the initials CP and another in the shape of a heart had been left by the banks of the Ouse close to the bridge on Monday morning, with several bunches of flowers also left nearby.
Emergency crews were called to the river at 3.15am on Sunday when the man went into the river from above the middle arch on Ouse Bridge.
Onlookers tried to help the man and threw a lifebelt to him as he struggled in the water, but he was unable to swim to safety.
Searches by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and York Rescue Boat resumed later that morning, before officers from the Northumbria Police Marine Unit discovered a body near Ouse Bridge at about 2.45pm on Sunday.
Friends of Mr Palmer told BBC Radio York they left the tributes to celebrate his life in the hours after his body was found.
One said: “He was amazing, a guy that no-one is ever going to be anything like. He was one in a million.”
Another said: “It’s not even sunk in yet, I just wanted a way to say goodbye.”
Inspector Dave Hunter, of the York Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This is clearly a very tragic incident and it is important that the man’s family receive specialist police support at this difficult time. We ask that people show the family respect and allow them to grieve in private.
“We realise the emergency response to this incident has caused a great deal of disruption during a busy day in York. We thank people and nearby businesses for their continued patience and support during the operation, particularly those who have provided vital information to assist police enquiries.”
A crew from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue resumed a search in the water underneath and around Ouse Bridge at 9.30am.
York Rescue Boat also joined the search at 10.30am.
Thousands of pounds have been spent upgrading river safety equipment along the Ouse and the River Foss in recent years, following a ROSPA report and several deaths in York’s rivers.
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