A man and his service dog were tragically killed in a canal barge fire near Crooke Marina in Standish on Thursday
A man and his service dog have tragically died in a blaze on a canal barge on Christmas Day.
Emergency crews rushed to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal near Crooke Marina in Standish at around 3.30am on Thursday (December 25).
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "Officers were called to reports of a fire on a canal boat at Crooke Hall Moorings, Standish, at around 3.30am yesterday morning (December 25). Sadly, the body of a man and his service dog were found on the boat. Formal identification of the victim has yet to take place. A scene is currently in place with an investigation ongoing."
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters spent around thirteen hours at the scene. "Just after 3.30am yesterday morning (Friday December 23), three fire engines from Wigan and Hindley, along with the Technical Response Unit from Leigh and Water Incident Unit from Eccles, attended an incident on Crooke Road, Wigan," a spokesperson for the fire service said.
Crooke Hall Moorings, on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, are located in Crooke village near the Crooke Hall Inn. The sites includes a private marina for 90 boats and a canal-side pub with visitor moorings, the Manchester Evening News reports. The village sits at a scenic spot on the bend of the River Douglas, around three miles from Wigan town centre.