Man escapes from Kearney canal, authorities say

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) - Authorities say a man has escaped from a canal in Kearney.

The Kearney Volunteer Fire Department said in a news release Monday that firefighters and two vehicles were sent around 1:45 p.m. Sunday to the scene west of the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus. Someone had reported that an elderly man was in the water and could be drowning.

The department says the man had gotten out of the water by the time firefighters arrived. They helped him up a steep canal bank, and he was taken to a hospital.

His name hasn’t been released.