Terrible drama shakes Great Britain: four children break into the sea and die

Created: 12/16/2022, 10:50 am

By: Patrick Huljina

In England, several children have fallen into an icy lake near Birmingham.

Four fatalities are now known.

Update from December 16, 10:50 a.m .:

Several days after the accidental death of three children on an icy lake in the central English town of Solihull near Birmingham, another boy died.

A six-year-old lost the fight for his life in hospital, West Midlands Police said on Wednesday evening.

As reported by the British portal

, it is said to be the brother of one of the three other fatalities.

The sympathy is great: in Solihull, people laid flowers and memorial stones for the dead children.

© Richard Vernalls/dpa

Three boys aged eight, ten and eleven had already died on Sunday after breaking through the ice cover of a small lake while playing.

The incident caused outrage across the country.

At first the police could not rule out that more people had fallen into the water and searched the bottom of the small lake for days.

The search has now been completed, it said in a statement.

Tragedy in England: rescue workers continue to search for victims in the frozen lake

12th December 3.30pm update

: Three of the children who broke into frozen Babbs Mill Lake in Solihull on Sunday have succumbed to their injuries.

This is reported by the West Midlands Police at a press conference.

West Midlands Fire Station Chief Richard Stanton called the deaths "an unspeakable tragedy".

Another six-year-old boy remains in critical condition.

The search for other children in the lake will continue until the rescue workers can be absolutely sure that nobody is in the water.

On Sunday evening there were several reports of how many people might have been on the ice.

However, these reports do not match the number of children found.

A search party on duty in Solihull.

Other children may have fallen into the lake.

© Matthew Cooper/PA Wire/dpa

While there is no sign of anyone else missing, police will remain in the water "as long as necessary" to be safe, a West Midlands Police spokesman said.

Officials had tried to "break the ice" in efforts to save the children.

One of the officers suffered mild hypothermia.

Police are describing the incident as a "strong warning to all" of the dangers of open water.

While these may look picturesque, they can be deadly.

“We would like to ask parents and carers to remind their children of the dangers of the ice.

Please help us so that something like this doesn't happen again."

also read

Evolution: Terrifying image shows what humans could look like in less than 1,000 years

READ

Live on TV: South Sudan's President pees his pants during the national anthem

READ

Pensioners are not allowed on a cruise ship despite a paid trip – because of a towel breakdown

READ

Mars: NASA researcher "confused" about "strange structure" 

READ

Giant aquarium burst: large-scale operation of the fire brigade in Berlin

READ

Fancy a voyage of discovery?

My space

Snow in England: Onset of winter paralyzes Great Britain

First message from December 12

: Winter is here.

It wasn't just in Germany that it got icy last weekend.

In England, too, freezing temperatures and snow caused problems, especially in traffic.

In Solihull - a town near Birmingham - several children had to be rescued from an emergency.

Onset of winter in England: several children fall into the frozen lake

According to the fire department, at least four children fell into a frozen lake while playing and have been in critical condition in the hospital ever since.

Rescue workers and eyewitnesses jumped into the lake and pulled the children out of the ice-cold water, the fire department announced on Sunday evening.

There are indications that two more children could be in the water.

A search brought no evidence of further victims until Monday morning.

The authorities initially gave no information on the age.

Winter weather in England: Snow paralyzes traffic

In large parts of Great Britain, the winter weather with freezing temperatures and snowfall caused considerable traffic chaos.

Stansted Airport, northeast of London, canceled all flights on Sunday evening because the runway was covered in snow.

There were also several cancellations at the major London airports Heathrow and Gatwick.

There was too little de-icing fluid available.

The snowfall caused failures or significant delays for several railway companies.

© IMAGO/Alan Stanford

Several railway companies experienced failures or significant delays.

The National Highways Authority warned of "dangerous conditions" in southern and south-east England.

There were long traffic jams.

Several drivers had to sit in their cars for hours overnight on the M25 motorway.

Several schools also remained closed because teachers could not come.

In Austria, the last "red warning" applied: Last weekend, massive snowfalls were also expected there.

In Germany, the German Weather Service (DWD) warns of severe frost and freezing rain on Monday.