Police have confirmed that three children have died after falling through the ice on a frozen lake. A fourth boy, aged six, is still fighting for life in hospital.
Four children were rushed to hospital after being plucked from the icy lake in Kingshurst, Solihull, on Sunday. Police added that searches of the lake are continuing to establish whether anyone else fell into the water, following reports that as many as six children may have been involved.
Temperatures are thought to have plunged to 1C (34F) in the area at the time of the incident, falling to -3C (26F) overnight.
A West Midlands Police statement said: “Three boys have tragically died after falling into the lake at Babbs Mill Park in Solihull yesterday afternoon.
“The boys, aged 11, 10 and eight, were rushed to hospital after being pulled from the water.
“Sadly, they could not be revived and our thoughts are with their family and friends at this deeply devastating time. We’ll have specialist officers offering them as much support as we can.
“A fourth boy, aged six, remains in a critical condition in hospital.
“We’ve been working alongside colleagues from the fire and ambulance services as we do all we can to support those involved.
“Searches of the lake are continuing as we seek to establish exactly what happened and if anyone else fell into the water.
“We understand how distressing this is for the families and the wider community.
“We would ask people to not speculate or share any video footage at this stage.”
The youngsters were in a state of cardiac arrest after they were rescued from Babbs Mill Lake by brave members of the public and emergency workers at around 2.30pm.
Two other children believed to have also fallen in were feared to be dead due to their age, the temperature of the water and the length of time spent in it.
Rescuers spent overnight searching for the missing youngsters.
Two victims, said to be under 12, are understood to have been playing on the ice when it cracked and gave way beneath them causing them to plunge into the water.
Several of their friends then reportedly ran onto the lake in a bid to help before falling in themselves.
Two of the children were taken to Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital and two to Birmingham Children's Hospital in a critical condition.
Emergency services were called to Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst, a nature park in Solihull, at 2.36pm on Sunday, with reports from the scene and social media indicating that children had been playing on the ice and had fallen through into the lake.
Local fire, police and ambulance chiefs told a press conference on Sunday evening that four children were rescued from the water in cardiac arrest and taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Emergency services were made aware that up to six people may have been in the water, with specialist rescue teams continuing to search the lake overnight.
It comes after a weekend of snow and freezing frost with the severe conditions set to continue over the next few days, including temperatures as low as minus 10C.
Richard Stanton, West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service area commander, told the press conference: “When our firefighters arrived, a number of police officers and members of the public were in the water trying to reach and rescue the children.
“Our crews entered the water, swam to the first child and our specialist-trained firefighters, including technical rescue, rescued three further children.
“The children were brought out of the water where they received immediate life-support care from firefighters and our ambulance colleagues.”
He later added that they were “made aware there were up to six people in the water” when firefighters arrived.
“So after rescuing the four children, we have continued the search and rescue operation to confirm whether there were any more in the water,” he said.
He added: “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.”
Cameron McVittie, a tactical commander with West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “On being rescued, the four children were taken under blue lights to hospital with an advanced care team.
“Two were taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and two to Heartlands in Birmingham. All four children were in critical condition on arrival.”
Three boys aged 11, 10 and eight have died after being pulled from an icy lake in Solihull on Sunday, West Midlands Police has said.
