Emergency services across England have issued warnings to the public after people were spotted walking on frozen lakes days after four children died in Solihull after falling through ice.
Brothers Finlay, 8, and Samuel Butler, 6, their cousin Thomas Stewart, 11, and Jack Johnson, 10, died after falling into water at Babbs Mill Park near Solihull. The children were in cardiac arrest when they were pulled from the water and died in hospital.
West Midlands fire service, which responded to the incident, has urged dog walkers to stay away from icy lakes after launching two rescues on Thursday.
A woman in her early 60s fell into a lake in Himley Park, Staffordshire, as she tried to rescue a dog, and was taken to hospital.
A firefighter who tried to swim to her suffered mild hypothermia but did not need hospital treatment, the force said. He was unable to reach the woman because of the thick ice, and a boat was eventually used to bring her and the firefighter to safety.
As fire crews were preparing to leave the scene, they were alerted to a second dog in the water and used a boat to rescue it amid fears its owners were about the enter the lake.
A spokesperson for West Midlands fire service said: “We cannot stress enough the dangers of winter ice.
“We understand that dog owners will want to do all they can to rescue their pet if it gets into difficulty. But please keep them on leads near frozen, open water – for their safety, for your own safety, and that of our firefighters.”
A multi-agency response was launched in Warwickshire on Thursday after reports of young people walking on frozen water.
Deputy chief constable Alex Franklin-Smith said: “I cannot begin to imagine the pain the families and friends of those who have recently lost their lives just across the border at Babbs Mill lake must be going through following the tragic loss of four young lives.
“Despite this incident, yesterday in Warwickshire we had two reports of young people being seen walking on frozen water. Each was quickly responded to by multiple emergency services with extensive searches carried out and thankfully there has been no evidence in each case of anyone coming to any harm.
“However, this could have been a very different situation had anyone entered the water at either of these locations.”
Firefighters in Suffolk also said “some people have reported children very close and testing the ice” at Oulton Broad lake and nearby ponds, and markings showed there had “evidently been people on the ice on the pond”.
Suffolk fire and rescue said it had been engaging with the public in nearby parks to remind people of the dangers of frozen ice, and putting up warning posters in the area.
Staffordshire police said a concerned member of the public reported seeing children on a pond in Leek on Tuesday and a witness reported seeing two boys on a frozen lake on Wednesday morning in Longport.
Bedfordshire fire and rescue service also issued a letter to local schools asking parents and carers to remind their children of the dangers of ice, and urging them to stay off it.
A vigil is being held on Saturday in Kingshurt near the lake where the four boys fell through the ice.
A minute’s silence was held at Birmingham City’s match on Friday night against Reading and are also planned for Saturday’s fixtures.
