Four children with cardiac arrest have been hospitalized in a critical condition after falling into a frozen lake in western England on Sunday, British emergency services said. The children were picked up in the freezing water by rescuers who were called in the early afternoon in Solihull, a town south-east of Birmingham.
According to witnesses, they were playing on the ice of a frozen lake and fell into the water. “The children were pulled from the water and received immediate life support from firefighters and paramedicslocal fire chief Richard Stanton said at a news conference Sunday evening. “Unfortunately, the children in the water were in cardiac arrest and connected to advanced life support systems on the way to the hospitalsaid Cameron McVittie of the local ambulance service.
In a “critical conditionthey were taken to two different hospitals in Birmingham. The children’s gender and age were not specified, nor was the length of time they spent in the water before being rescued. The toll could increase as police said they were told when they arrived at the scene that “up to six people» had fallen into the water. “So after rescuing the four children we continued the search to check if there were other people in the water.Richard Stanton said. A rescue team will continue the search overnight.
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But”given the temperature of the water, the age of those who entered the water and the time they spent in it, it is no longer a rescue operationbut rather to restore potential bodies, he said. A police officer deployed at the scene was also taken to hospital after suffering mild hypothermia, the press conference said. The UK has been experiencing a major cold spell since Friday, with freezing temperatures across the country and heavy snowfall in some places.
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