Four children who were pulled from an icy lake were in cardiac arrest, ambulance officials have said.
Emergency services were called to Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst, in the West Midlands at 2.36pm on December 11. Reports from the scene and videos on social media indicate that people had been playing on the ice and had fallen through. Specialist water rescue teams carried out rescues and casualties received medical support at the scene before being taken to nearby hospitals.
Cameron McVittie, a tactical commander with West Midlands Ambulance, 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. They are all in critical condition when they arrived in hospital.”
When asked if they know how long the children were in the water for, he said: “Unfortunately not at this stage.” And whether there had been any fatalities, the ambulance chief added: “There is no clinical update at this stage.”
West Midlands Police Superintendent Richard Harris told reporters that they would not confirm whether the children were siblings or their gender at this stage.
He said: "When the fire service arrived at the scene, we were made aware there were up to six people in the water.
“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.”
Superintendent Harris added that officers from all the emergency services went into the water to help the rescue, with a police officer subsequently being taken to hospital.
He said: “When officers first arrived on the scene, they went into the lake, together with fire and ambulance colleagues. It was a combined effort of all officers going into the lake to try to rescue them.”
A press conference held this evening heard that one of the police officers suffered mild hypothermia and is making a “full recovery” in hospital.
The incident was described as a search and rescue operation, fire service officials said earlier this evening. Photos from the scene show search teams on a boat on the lake shining torches into the water.
“We would ask people to allow emergency services at the scene to go about their work in a safe and effective way,” West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service (WMFS) said in a statement earlier. "We will release further details when appropriate with our fellow blue-light partners.”
West Midlands Police earlier tweeted that emergency services are at the scene of a “serious incident”, where a “number of people” have been pulled from the lake and are believed to be in a critical condition.
The force tweeted: “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.
