A man in Great Britain died after police shot him with a Taser and he tumbled into the River Thames

• British police used a Taser on a man who was reportedly wielding a screwdriver on the Chelsea Bridge in London.
• The man fell from the bridge into the River Thames. He was rescued but later died at the hospital.

A British man died after police repeatedly shot him with a Taser, and he tumbled from the Chelsea Bridge into the River Thames.

The Metropolitan Police said they were investigating a "disturbance" in which a man was "armed with a screwdriver and shouting" on Chelsea Bridge Road in London on Saturday, the police said in a statement.

"Officers attended the location a short time later, and they challenged a man on Chelsea Bridge. A Taser was discharged but this did not enable the officers to safely detain him," the statement said. "The man, who is believed to be aged in his early 40s, subsequently entered the river."

Video of the incident that was seen by the BBC shows police using a Taser on the man three times as he continued to pull himself up from the ground. Then, he hurled himself over the barrier into the River Thames as officers scrambled to stop him.

"A rescue operation was immediately organised. The man was rescued from the water by the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) and taken to hospital, where he died that evening," the police statement said.

While the man was not identified to the public, his family has been informed of his death, police said.

Frontline Policing Commander Alexis Boon offered condolences to the family and said in the statement that any situation "in which a person comes to harm following contact with police is understandably concerning."

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation into the incident.

"Our officers face some of the most challenging and difficult situations daily, in doing so they are fully aware that their actions should rightly be subject to public scrutiny," Boon said. "The Met's Directorate of Professional Standards made an immediate referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct following this sad incident, and we will co-operate fully with them as they work to understand the full circumstances."