A MAN who fell into London’s Thames river after police fired a Taser while trying to detain him has died, the policing watchdog said today.

Police were called to Chelsea Bridge Road, west London, yesterday morning after receiving reports that a man was armed with a screwdriver and was shouting.

He was rescued from the water and taken to hospital in critical condition.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said that the man, in his early forties, died in hospital and that an inquiry was under way.

The watchdog said: “We were notified by the Metropolitan Police on Saturday and sent investigators to the scene and to the police post-incident procedure to begin our investigation.

“Initial information indicates that officers were responding to reports of a disturbance when they encountered the man on the bridge.

“During the incident Taser was deployed.”

IPOC said its investigators have secured police body-worn video footage and the Taser for analysis.

The Met Police said that officers challenged the man before the Taser was discharged, but this “did not enable the officers to safely detain him” and he “subsequently entered the river.”