A TODDLER has died after falling into a murky canal as he played with his brother and a friend - at a place where local people predicted a tragedy would occur.

Three-year-old Usman Ghani, of Hargreaves Street, Nelson, died in hospital despite the efforts of specialist doctors after being pulled from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Nelson after an hour.

In 1988, three-year-old Ansar Hanif, of Swaine Street, Nelson, drowned in the same spot, which is easily accessible through a gate and down a flight of steps.

Today former ward councillor Mohammed Iqbal, who lives in the same street as Usman's family, said British Waterways bosses had done nothing to prevent a tragedy from happening again.

"We warned British Waterways that another tragedy could occur again and it has," said Mr Iqbal, who knows the family.

"The family said they just wanted to prevent the same thing happening again which it has.

"What we need to do now is have a campaign to make this area safe and make sure this never happens again. The gate needs to be made secure so that it can't be opened by a child."

Police divers discovered Usman's body in four feet of water in the at the bottom of Hargreaves Street at 3.25pm yesterday, an hour after he fell in while playing with his brother and another boy on a quay built as a stopping point for leisure craft.

Paramedics and staff at Burnley General Hospital battled to save his life but he died at the hospital just before 6pm. Farooq Mohammed, one of the first adults on the scene, said: "He was playing with his brother and another boy on the side of the canal. His foot slipped over the edge and he fell in.

"The other boys rushed to his house to get his family but when they got back there was no sign of him. They went back and rang for the police. I tried to see him but there was nothing, no bubbles or anything. The water is so dirty you couldn't see a thing."

Firefighters used a ladder and hook to try and find Usman without success. The police helicopter and an underwater search unit were called in. Usman's father Ilyas Ahmed was too upset to talk about the incident today. A relative, Yousaf Arshad, said: "Everyone is very upset; it's effected the whole community.

"People should learn a lesson from this and make sure that area is made safer."

A post mortem examination on Usman was due to be carried out today.

Guy Lawson, a British Waterways spokesman, said: "We will certainly look to see what we can do to improve the situation at this spot but it is very difficult to know what to do.

If there is anything to learn from this we will act accordingly.

"To make the canal completely safe, especially through populated areas, is very hard to do."

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