Four children have been taken to hospital in cardiac arrest after falling through the ice on a lake in Solihull, emergency services have said.
West Midlands police said specialist teams are continuing an operation overnight at Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst in the town on Sunday amid reports that two further children may be missing.
At a press conference in Birmingham, West Midlands fire service area commander, Richard Stanton, said reports from the scene and social media indicated that “a number of children had been playing on the ice on a lake and had fallen through the ice”.
Cameron McVittie, a tactical commander with West Midlands ambulance service, said the four children were in cardiac arrest and are all receiving specialist care. Two are being treated at Birmingham children’s hospital and two at Heartlands hospital, also in the city.
McVittie said: “On being rescued, the four children were taken under blue lights to hospital with an advanced care team.
“Unfortunately, the children in the water were in cardiac arrest and were receiving advanced life support en route to hospital.
He added: “There are no updates. They are all in critical condition when they arrived in hospital.”
Supt Richard Harris, from West Midlands police, said officers went into the lake as well as first responders to rescue the children and look for anyone else. He added that one officer has mild hypothermia and is making a “full recovery” in hospital.
Harris said: “On behalf of West Midlands police we understand how distressing this is for families and the wider community and we are doing everything we can to support all those involved.”
Stanton added they were “made aware there were up to six people in the water” when firefighters arrived.
He said: “So after rescuing the four children, we have continued the search and rescue operation to confirm whether there were any more in the water.
“The specialist medical advice we have been given on the scene, given the temperature of the water, given the age of those who entered the water and the amount of time they have been in there – this would no longer be a search and rescue operation.”
Ellie Harvey, 29, who works in a nearby primary school as a lunchtime assistant, told the Daily Mail: “I understand they are all year five and year six primary schoolchildren.
“I think they were a group of friends. The lake was ice and it is very enticing for children.
“I have a boy the same sort of age but luckily he doesn’t like playing out in the cold. There was ice on the lake but it wasn’t thick.”
Eyewitnesses reported seeing at least 10 fire engines and 10 police cars parked on Collets Grove, the nearest street to the lake.
Stanley Busumani, 30, who lives nearby, told the newspaper: “Around 2.30pm there were suddenly a load of ambulances, police and fire engines arriving all at once.
“I have heard it is five kids. I have seen people sobbing down their phones and a lot of very upset people.
“I have a five-year-old. This is a terrible thing to happen.”
In an earlier statement, the fire service said: “At 2.36pm on Sunday 11 December, West Midlands fire service, along with West Midlands ambulance service and West Midlands police, were called to Babbs Mill Park in Solihull.
“Reports from the scene and videos on social media indicate that people had been playing on the ice on a pond and had fallen through. Our specialist water rescue teams arrived and acted assertively to take control of the scene and carry out rescues using specialist equipment and entering the water.
“Casualties have received medical support at the scene from both firefighters and ambulance personnel prior to being taken to nearby hospitals.
“We would ask people to allow emergency services at the scene to go about their work in a safe and effective way.”
West Midlands police tweeted earlier: “We are currently at the scene of a serious incident at Babbs Mill Park, Fordbridge Road, Kingshurst, Solihull.
“A number of people have been pulled from a lake and are being transported to hospital. They are believed to be in a critical condition.
“We are working with @WestMidsFire and @OFFICIALWMAS at the scene and will provide further updates in due course.”
Babbs Mill Park is a local nature reserve with a lake, river, wildflower grasslands and woodlands.
The Midlands, areas of Scotland, south-western England north-western England and Wales were affected by snow and ice over the weekend.
A Met Office yellow warning for snow and ice was in place for much of Scotland, as well as parts of Wales and south-western England until noon on Sunday.
Two more snow and ice warnings are in place for the north of Scotland for 24 hours from noon and another for most of London and some of south-east England covering 6pm on Sunday to 9am on Monday.
