Two schoolgirls are spotted playing on frozen lake in Wimbledon… while four young children fight for life and two are feared dead after plunging through icy surface of pond in Solihull
- The two schoolgirls were seen walking on top of frozen pond in Wimbledon
- It came day after a tragedy in Solihull, West Midlands, in similar circumstances
- Emergency services were called to Babbs Mill Park, Kingshurst on Sunday
- Four children were taken to hospital in a critical condition, paramedics said
Two schoolgirls were this morning seen risking their lives standing on a frozen pond in London the day after six youngsters plunged into icy waters doing the same thing in Solihull.
The pair – who appeared to have little idea of any danger – were seen at Wimbledon Common this morning amid sub-zero temperatures in the capital.
It is not known how deep the water is there, but it comes after a tragedy in the Midlands in similar circumstances last night.
Two children under 12 are feared dead and four of their friends are in a critical condition after the incident at Babbs Mill Park in Solihull just after 2.30pm yesterday.
Schoolgirls risk standing on the Wimbledon frozen pond as London is blanketed in snow
Emergency workers took to the lake yesterday evening in an effort to find two children, believed to be under the age of 12, who are missing and feared dead
Four children were rushed to hospital in a critical condition after they were pulled from the lake in a state of cardiac arrest.
Local reports last night said one child had died in hospital, but police declined to confirm this.
Specialist police divers were seen entering the water under torchlight late yesterday.
But fire crews have said it is now a ‘recovery rather than rescue’, as hope for the two missing children fades.
Emergency services continue to search the lake after reports suggested up to six children may have been on the lake when the ice fell through
Police officers at the scene in Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst, Solihull this morning
Two children – said to be aged under 12 – had been playing on the ice when it cracked beneath them. This prompted their friends to run onto the lake and try and help them only to get into trouble themselves, witnesses said.
At a press conference yesterday night, emergency services confirmed four children were fighting for their lives in hospital and search efforts were continuing amid reports two further children were involved.
The Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that searches would continue overnight, but added that any ongoing activity would no longer be classed as a rescue operation.
Emergency services were seen carrying equipment to and from the lake as they combat freezing temperatures with the operation said to be at the recovery stage, rather than rescue, meaning the children are feared dead
A search diver is seen rising from the water of the Babbs Mill Lake. Nottinghamshire Police’s Underwater and Specialist Search Unit has been called to help the operation
When asked about local reports that one child had died, West Midlands Ambulance Service tactical commander Cameron McVittie said there would be ‘no clinical updates’ issued on any of the children at this time.
Eyewitnesses described seeing responders ‘smashing through’ the ice on the lake’s surface as those first on the scene swam out into the water to rescue the nearest child.
Last night, St Anthony’s Primary School in Kingshurt announced that it would be closed for pupils today ‘due to the incident at Babbs Mill’.
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