UK: Young victims of frozen lake fell trying to rescue one of their own

They were 11, 10 and 8 years old and lost their lives after being pulled from the frozen lake where they fell on Sunday afternoon. British police announced on Monday the deaths of three young children who were unable to be revived by staff at Birmingham hospital, where they had been admitted with cardiac arrest. A fourth child, just six years old, remains in critical condition on Tuesday. The tragedy has moved the entire United Kingdom since Sunday and its circumstances are beginning to become clear, thanks to the testimony of a child friend of the group.

“There is one whose legs got locked”

So far it was known that at least four children had fallen into the water at Babbs Mill Park in Solihull, in the West Midlands region, after the ice that covered it gave way. It was not known exactly how the accident occurred and investigators feared the discovery of other victims. These two uncertainties are about to clear up this Tuesday morning.

Tommy Barnet, 10 years old and a friend of one of the deceased children, gave his testimony to the Sky News channel, explaining the drama due to the gang’s attempt to save one of his family, trapped in the frost.

“They were all playing on the ice, and then one of them stuck his legs in the ice…His friends tried to help him, but they all fell off,” he said. . “In the summer, we used to go to the woods to play hide-and-seek, but I wasn’t there yesterday,” she said.

No other disappearances have been reported.

If the investigations continue, the researchers are now highlighting – albeit cautiously – good news. In fact, some of the stories collected had led them to believe that up to six children were in the lake when the ice broke. Apparently, there is nothing.

Richard Harris, “superintendent” of the West Midlands Police (in some ways the equivalent of a divisional commissioner in France), had insisted on Monday when confirming the deaths of three of the victims: “We must be 100% sure that it is absolutely impossible that there is still someone in the water”. However, the time is rather for optimism as of now, according to this direct from the independent: the investigators thus stressed that, more than 24 hours after the horror, no one had reported the disappearance of another child.

Winter is particularly harsh these days in the country, generating a series of deplorable consequences, although fortunately less dramatic. So snow and frost have swept across parts of the UK since Monday, making transport difficult.