A search and rescue operation is under way after police said a number of people pulled from a lake near Birmingham in freezing temperatures are in a critical condition. Reports suggested people had been playing on the ice at Babbs Mill Park and fell through, according to West Midlands Fire Service. Those people had received treatment before being taken to hospital.
Specialist teams and equipment are involved in the search. It was likely that the emergency service presence would remain there for a number of hours, she added.
Babbs Mill Park is a local nature reserve with a lake, river, wildflower grasslands and woodlands. Temperatures of 1C (34F) were reported in the area at the time the emergency services were called. They are expected to plummet to -3C during the night.
Icy lakes are a phenomenon nowadays and, inevitably, will attract those unaware of the perils …
Superintendent Richard Harris, of West Midlands Police, told reporters: “One of my officers was trying to punch through the ice to actually rescue the children.”
In freezing cold temperatures this young children one just 6 years old for goodness sake , where were their parents while these poor little souls were on the frozen lake !!
From what I remember of my childhood though, “going round to friends house” for example, doesn’t always mean that you stay there. Plus I do think I slid around with others on the local pond once or twice as well. These children were all together (related too), so their parents probably assumed they were ok. Very wrong, of course, in this day and age, and the parents will carry that guilt with them all their lives…the “if only…”, I mean.
