A WITNESS to the tragic events that led to the death of a 19-year-old man at a North Yorkshire beauty spot has warned of the dangers of wild swimming.

Emergency services rushed to Wain Wath Force on Friday evening after a man got himself into difficulty swimming at the waterfall near Keld and was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The man has been named on social media as 19-year-old Dani Khan of Middlesbrough and many posted tributes online to him, with friend one describing him as having ‘a heart of gold’.

Mark Denton, a North Yorkshire photographer, was at the scene as the tragedy unfolded and said a brave passerby pulled Mr Khan from the water before the emergency services arrived at 5.40pm.

Mr Denton made the first 999 call at 5pm and as a regular visitor to such spots, he is well-aware of their dangers and believes more should be done to warn people of about them.

He said: “I know many young people who are incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable, but I think collectively we let young people down by not stressing enough the huge dangers of swimming in open water in the UK.

“Every year when the weather gets hot we get these incidents.

“With my work for many years involving these locations I am always aware of news of them.

“While there is clamour and alerts at the time, there doesn’t seem much sustained information for people of how dangerous these places can be.

“The water underneath the falls could not have looked calmer or more enticing.

“Yet the water is black and freezing, huge dangers exist of cold water shock and impact with unseen rocks.”

It is understood that Mr Khan was one of a group of four friends who had been swimming in the River Swale on Friday afternoon.

Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team, police, fire crews, Yorkshire Ambulance and the Great North Air Ambulance all attended the scene.

North Yorkshire Police said a file had been prepared for the Coroner’s Office.