A man was found dead Saturday evening after slipping between a boat and the bank of the Erie Canal in the village of Newark, police said.
Newark police responded to the canal near Van Buren Street at about 6:12 p.m. and arrived within two minutes. Officers found a woman in the water searching for the man, identified as her significant other, and coaxed her back to shore.
The Newark Fire Department launched a boat in an effort to rescue the man but found him dead in the water.
A preliminary investigation determined that the man and woman had arrived by boat from Canada with two friends and were sightseeing in Newark. The man apparently slipped and fell into the water between the boat and the canal bank, police said.
Authorities said the death appears to have been a tragic accident. The man’s name was withheld pending notification of his next of kin.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Newark-Arcadia Volunteer Ambulance, Fairville Fire Department and Newark Fire Department assisted at the scene.
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