Salford torso find: Men arrested on suspicion of murder

A human torso was found near a bunker at Kersal Dale in Salford earlier this month

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a human torso was found wrapped in plastic at a nature reserve.

The male victim, found near a bunker in Salford's Kersal Dale Wetlands on 4 April, remains unidentified.

Greater Manchester Police said the two arrested men, aged 42 and 68, are from Salford and were thought to know each other.

The 42-year-old was arrested as officers boarded a bus in Eccles Old Road at about midday, the force said.

The older man was later arrested at an address in Worsley Road.

Detectives had reopened the crime scene in the wooded area at the weekend.

Hundreds of officers, divers and search dogs initially combed the area by the River Irwell after the torso was discovered by a passer-by.

The identity of the victim - thought to be a white man in his 40s who had been dead for several days - has still not been ascertained, despite a scan of DNA databases.

Hundreds of officers, divers and search dogs combed the area by the River Irwell

The remains, consisting of the bottom of the back, buttocks and thigh, had no distinguishing marks, police previously said.

The force said the latest arrests came after its officers had trawled CCTV footage for hundreds of hours.

A 20-year-old man previously arrested on suspicion of murder was later released on bail pending further inquiries.

Det Supt Lewis Hughes, of the force's Serious Crime Division, said further searches were likely to be carried out across the city in the coming days as they left "no stone unturned".

He said they were determined to identify the victim who "could be a father, brother, son, or cousin".

He added: "He is a man over the age of 40, with white skin tone, believed to be European, and most likely had blonde or light brown hair and blue eyes."