London

Watch: Man Rescued Moments From Drowning in London

The lifeboat crew launched immediately at the request of the UK Coastguard and caught up with the 36-year old man who was being swept away by the fast-moving tide

A man was saved from nearly drowning in London's Thames River by the Tower Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat crew, which shared video of Thursday's dramatic rescue.

“Based on how we found him, he was probably five seconds away from drowning. Given his temperature and the water he had ingested, if we hadn’t got him there and then, he’d have gone under,” Craig Burn, with the lifeboat crew, said in a press release.

Passengers on a ferry reported a man in in distress the water near Blackfriars Road Bridge. The charity lifeboat crew launched at the request of the UK Coastguard and caught up with the 36-year old man who was being swept away by the fast-moving tide.

The rescue coincides with the launch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s "Respect the Water" campaign, a national drowning prevention initiative in the U.K. aimed at preventing people getting into distress on or near water.

Fatality figures released Thursday show 42 people have died by accident along the tidal reaches of the River Thames over the past five years, and 40 percent of those didn’t intend to enter the water.

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