Stuntman drowns in German TV shoot

A stuntman drowned when he failed to escape from a car sinking into a canal while he was making a film in Germany.

The 39-year-old drove the car off a ramp and through a wooden wall into the canal south of Berlin yesterday evening.

He was supposed to climb free of the car before it sank, but didn’t make it. Divers standing by pulled him from the water, but medics could not revive him, police said.

The ZDF television channel, which had commissioned the television movie, said it was shocked at the accident and that the stunt firm, Action Unlimited, appeared to have taken the usual security measures.

Filming of the movie was suspended.