Lecturer drowned after tripping on dangerous footpath and falling into canal

The wife of a dad-of-two who drowned in Regent’s Canal fears an ‘unsafe’ pathway caused her husband to fall in the water.

Orhan Ekren, 48, disappeared in Camden on November 26 after taking a trip to the capital from Milton Keynes to renew his Visa.

After an agonising search along the river, the university of lecturer’s body was eventually found on December 15.

His wife Banu told Metro: ‘It was a very difficult time, my two daughters were in a bad way.

‘The investigation is still ongoing so it is not totally clear what happened, but something caused him to fall into the water.’

Orhan spent a few hours at a pub on the canalside, but after starting his journey back to Euston station, he disappeared.

Tracking app Life360 shows him suddenly veering off the road and down a footpath by the canal, and his phone lost signal at 11.23pm.

But Banu said the area along the tow path is shrouded in darkness and is frustrated no CCTV cameras have picked up his movements.

She said: ‘I think he fell into the water by mistake. While Orhan was still missing, a boat owner sent me a picture of broken pavement at his last known location.

‘I flagged it to the police and the council, and funnily enough the next day people who lived on the barges told me it was fixed.’

Banu added: ‘If people are a little drunk it is clearly very dangerous walking through that area.

‘New safety measures need to be brought in straight away.’

Orhan’s clothes and backpack were both handed into the police, while sopping wet with canal water, but Banu said it is unclear how they managed to wash up on the banks on their own.

Banu has set up a GoFundMe to cover the costs of his funeral in Turkey which you can donate to here.

Detective Chief Inspector Sarb Kaur, who led the search, said: ‘This is a very traumatic experience and the family are truly devastated with the outcome.’

The Canal & River Trust said: ‘We remain shocked at this tragic death and offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Dr Ekren.

‘Our charity will help the coroner in whatever way we can as Dr Ekren’s death is investigated.

‘And, whilst millions of visits are made to Camden’s canal each year and incidents like this extremely rare, our charity is keen to establish from the investigation what can be learned from this tragic death.’

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