Boy, 6, who fell through ice into lake in Solihull in critical condition

Read More

A six-year-old boy who fell through the ice into a lake in Solihull is fighting for his life in hospital, as emergency services continue searching the waters after the tragedy that claimed the lives of three children.

Three boys aged 11, 10 and eight were confirmed to have died after falling through ice into the lake on Sunday.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, West Midlands police said: “Our searches at Babbs Mill lake in Kingshurst will continue today. The six-year-old boy remains in hospital in a critical condition. We will release further updates as soon as we are able.”

Hundreds of local residents left floral tributes, balloons, soft toys and lighted candles at a vigil held in Kingshurst on Monday night.

The boys were pulled from the water by emergency crews, including a police officer who tried to punch through the ice to reach them.

Police said nobody else had been reported missing but they were continuing their searches, following reports that as many as six children may have been involved in the incident.

During a news conference on Monday, Supt Richard Harris said: “We have to be 100% certain that there is no one else possibly in the water at this time. It’s important to stress though that we’ve had no contact from anybody suggesting that there’s anybody else missing but until we’re 100% certain we will be carrying on searches.”

Emergency services were first called to the scene at 2.36pm on Sunday, where it was reported four children had been playing on the ice and had fallen through into the lake.

Members of the public and police officers initially went into the water to try to get the children out, before they were reached by specialist water rescue-trained firefighters, who pulled them to safety.

All the children were in cardiac arrest and given immediate life support by ambulance and fire service personnel before being rushed to two Birmingham hospitals, where they all arrived in critical condition.

Families affected by the tragedy were “absolutely devastated”, Harris said. He told reporters: “Also this time of year, it’s on the run-up to Christmas, so close to the event itself, also adds to that tragedy. But as you can imagine the families are absolutely devastated, which is why we’re doing our very best to support the families.

“And obviously we’re abiding by their requests at the moment as to how much information that the families want us to to make available to the media so we’re doing everything we possibly can to support them.”