FISHERMAN FALLS, DROWNS

MOREHOUSE -- A Southeast Missouri man drowned after falling off a railroad bridge while fishing.

Howard W. Davis, 33, of Morehouse, was with a friend when the accident occurred about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Stoddard County, authorities said. The two were fishing in an irrigation ditch used to keep farmland from flooding.

Davis fell off the bridge, hit his head on a concrete abutment and landed in about 8 feet of water, the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department said.

Emergency workers recovered Davis' body about two hours later.