A teenage boy has died in the sea off the UK coastline after a frantic five hour search involving the coastguard helicopter. The tragic accident occurred on Saturday August 13 during what was another extremely busy weekend for emergency services stretched to breaking point because of the heatwave.
Police said they were called to a report that a child under 16 was in the water at about 6.15pm and following a combined search by police, coastguard and lifeboats, the boy’s body was found at around 11.30pm off the coastline of Skegness.
The identity of the teenager has not yet been released, according to Lincolnshire Live. The tragedy happened during a busy weekend for the popular seaside resort, with Superintendent Lee Pache, of Lincolnshire Police, revealing that they received a high volume of calls for missing people, including 10 pleas for help in just two hours on Saturday.
“All of those who were reported missing, other than the child who sadly died, were located safe and well,” he said. “Our thoughts are with the boy’s family.”
The Mayor of Skegness expressed his and the town’s sadness at the tragic news, according to Mirror Online. Cllr Tony Tye said: “This really is very, very sad. It is sad for the whole of the town that someone had been lost to the sea.
“People come to Skegness for fun and to have a good time and so this boy’s death is even more tragic.” Businessman Danny Brookes, who runs Indulgence ice cream parlour and coffee shop, in High Street, Skegness, said: “This is absolutely devastating for the boy’s family and for people in the town. It is just so sad.”
A spokesman for HM Coastguard, which coordinated the response, said: “An extensive search was carried out by two RNLI lifeboats from Skegness and Mablethorpe, the HM Coastguard helicopter from Humber and Sutton Bridge, and Skegness and Wrangle coastguard rescue teams.
“Lincolnshire Police and East Midlands Ambulance Service were also involved. The missing teenager was found and handed into the care of the East Midlands Ambulance Service.”
Lincolnshire Police Control Room tweeted: “In the past two hours we have received approximately 10 different calls regarding missing children in the #Skegness area on either the arcades, beaches or in the water.
“This has prompted the deployment of many officers, a drone unit, coastguard helicopter and crews.” The New Scientist says that at least 10 people died through drowning in the first heatwave to hit Britain last month.
It reports Antonio Gasparrini at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine estimating that a total of 948 people died in England and Wales because of the sweltering conditions between July 17 and 19. He said England and Wales would typically expect to record only 791 heat-linked deaths in an entire year.
As temperatures again hit the mid-30s over the weekend, police confirmed that a body was also found in a Doncaster lake on Saturday. Emergency services received reports of a man in his 20s in difficulty at Lakeside lake at around 4.10pm, and a body was recovered hours later.
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