Detectives are treating as "suspicious" the discovery of a man's body in a stretch of canal in the Black Country.
Police frogmen had to be brought in to recover the body on Wednesday afternoon at Albion Road, at the junction with Oldbury Road, West Bromwich.
A police investigation is under way and Detective Inspector Mark Ryder, of Sandwell North CID at West Bromwich, yesterday said: "We are keeping an open mind at the moment.
"A post mortem examination is taking place and we hope to be able to release more details after that.
"Obviously we do not yet have a cause of death, but our investigations are continuing," he added.
Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene at about 2.10 pm on Wednesday.
A passer-by is believed to have raised the alarm after seeing something in the water.
The area, off Brandon Way, was sealed off for several hours as police examined the body and carried out a fingertip search of the scene.
Motorists were warned to avoid the area as police set up diversions. They were still in place yesterday.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "We can confirm that the body was that of a man. Forensic examinations of the scene took place and forensic scientists are back at the scene.
"The area remains sealed off at this stage.
"We hope the body will be formally identified. The incident is being treated as suspicious until proved otherwise. That is all we can say for now," added the spokesman.
