Detectives are working to discover the identity of a body found inside a suitcase recovered from the Grand Union canal in London.
Police are investigating the suspicious death of the person, believed to be female. The suitcase was pulled from the canal near Delamere Terrace in west London’s Little Venice at about 2.30pm on Sunday.
One man, who gave his name only as Bruce and who is staying on a boat near where the body was found, returned just as police arrived.
He said: “I saw policemen in blue overalls looking in the water, and more and more police started turning up. It’s a bit too close for comfort.”
A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: “The death is being treated as suspicious and detectives from homicide and major crime command are investigating. We are working to discover the identity of the deceased.”
A section of the canal was closed to boats for several hours on Sunday while the recovery was under way. It was aided by Scotland Yard’s marine policing unit and the London fire brigade.
A postmortem examination is due to be held to determine the identity of the dead person. It is unclear how long the body was in the canal.
Police said no arrests had been made in connection with the discovery.
More than a dozen police officers descended on the scene, an onlooker told the Press Association, and houseboat residents were questioned about their whereabouts on Friday and Saturday.
Natasha Widdowson, 23, who lives on a boat near where the body was found, said: “We heard the body was found by some walkers passing by. Police told us there had been an accident and no one was allowed to go past the bridge.”
She said she was woken on Saturday night by a loud scream while asleep on the houseboat. “I heard a girl’s scream, it was very loud as though she was in distress. It was loud enough to get me out of bed, but I shrugged it off at the time. I just thought it was a drunk person.”
Rosaline Monrose, 74, who lives in a Little Venice flat overlooking the water, called the discovery “frightening”.
Pedro Garcea, 30, said his girlfriend Soraya was worried about walking home late at night. “We were a bit concerned because Soraya works in a hospital and has to walk home – she sometimes doesn’t leave until 5am.”
A team of eight forensic officers began searching the area on Monday afternoon, asking the canalside residents if they had seen any discarded suitcase handles.
Sections of the waterfront remained sealed off as the officers scoured the area near where the body was discovered.
