Man attempting to jump from a bridge leads emergency crews to drowning man below him

When lifeboat crews arrived at the scene, they saw a person pointing at another man drowning in the water

Crew members of the RNLI's Tower Lifeboat station patrol the river Thames. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

A man attempting to jumping from a bridge in London inadvertently saved a man below him who was drowning.

Lifeboat and police crews were called to attend to the suicidal man at London Bridge on Wednesday at around 11pm.

When lifeboats had arrived on the scene, police officers had stopped the man on the bridge from jumping and helped him to safety.

But the crew then spotted another person on the bridge gesturing to the water below where a man was being weighed down by a duffel coat and struggling to stay above the water.

The crew checked he did not have any obvious injuries, wrapped him in blankets and took him to a nearby lifeboat station.

He was then taken to A&E after his temperature was recorded as just above 33 C, meaning he was suffering from hypothermia.

Toni Scarr, a lifeboat crew member for RNLI said: “Although he seemed alert and spoke to the crew, he was apologetic and wasn’t sure who he was or how he came to be in the river.

"There were no other boats in the area at the time and I don’t think anyone was actually aware he was in the water. Chances are if it hadn’t been for the lifeboat crew launching to the original incident – he would never have been spotted and would have drowned."

"He was incredibly fortunate in that respect. We still don’t know how he came to be in the water but due to an unusual twist of fate we managed to avoid one more fatality on the River Thames," Scarr added.

The RNLI recorded the incident as a "life saved", which applies when a person would most likely have lost their life were it not for the intervention of a lifeboat crew.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details.