Fourth boy, aged six, dies after falling through frozen lake in Solihull

14 December 2022, 18:08 | Updated: 15 December 2022, 00:52

A six-year-old boy has become the fourth child to die after falling into an icy lake in the West Midlands.

Three other boys, aged eight, 10 and 11, had previously died after falling into the water in Solihull, near Birmingham, as the country was swept by a sudden cold spell.

They were understood to have been playing on the ice on Sunday afternoon and each suffered a cardiac arrest by the time rescuers had pulled them out.

Bystanders and police jumped in to help, with one officer treated for mild-hypothermia after trying to punch through the ice in an attempt to save the children.

Rich Cooke, chairman of West Midlands Police Federation, told The Telegraph the officer was a student officer in his early 20s, who had been on one of his first operational rotations.

He described him as “an absolute hero” who was currently on days off but would be back on shift later this week. He said all the police who arrived at the scene had “tried to help in whatever way they could”.

In a statement, West Midlands Police said: “It is with heartfelt sadness that we have to report this afternoon, the six-year-old in hospital has lost his fight for life.

“Our deepest sympathies are with the families and friends of those involved in this tragedy. We cannot comprehend the enormity of the pain they must feel and our hearts go out to them.”

Throughout the week people have continued to add bouquets to an ever-growing carpet of flowers at a makeshift memorial site near the scene at Babbs Mill lake, while one group tied balloons of red and gold to nearby railings.

Temperatures were thought to have plunged to 1C in the area at the time of the incident, falling to -3C overnight.

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Police spent a number of days searching the lake to make sure no one else had fallen through the ice, although no one else was reported missing.

Earlier, West Midlands Fire Service area commander Richard Stanton said the deaths were a poignant reminder of the dangers of open water.

“Frozen lakes, ponds, canals and reservoirs can look picturesque but they can be lethal and there are no greater warnings of this than yesterday’s tragic events," he said on Monday.

“We would ask parents and carers to remind their children of the dangers of ice and why they must keep off it. Please help us to avoid this from happening again.”

England international and Aston Villa star Tyrone Mings visited the makeshift memorial earlier today, along with club captain John McGinn, saying “we feel that pain”.

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Mings, who plays at centre-back for the Birmingham-based club and has earned 17 caps for England, said: “It was a personal decision to pay our respects. I think it’s impacted the whole city.

“We felt it was important to come down on a personal level just to show that support. Sometimes, as we’ve seen with other things that have happened across the city, there are things more important than football.

“We felt it was important to come down here, show our respects and show we were thinking about everything that has happened and the parents that are affected by it. We feel that pain too.”

The tragedy has united the city’s rival football clubs, Aston Villa and Birmingham City – whose head coach John Eustace on Tuesday laid a wreath at the memorial on behalf of the Blues.

McGinn said: “We were in Dubai when we heard the news and I thought of my nieces and nephews, and the players thought about their kids. It was certainly moving for us.

"I’m sure tomorrow night in the friendly against Villareal, the Villa family will come together and pay our respects to what is a tragic event so close to home.”

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McGinn added: “Nothing can sum up what the families will be thinking, what the community will be thinking. But it just shows what a close-knit community it is.”

Later on Wednesday, staff from nearby John Henry Newman Catholic College and Kingshurst Primary School both spent a few minutes looking at the flowers and reading messages on cards including heartfelt tributes to the “Babbs Mill Boys” and the “Three Kings of Kingshurst”.

Earlier this week, relatives paid tribute to one of the youngsters, 10-year-old Jack Johnson, who is reported to have been trying to save others who fell into the water, and thanked members of the community on social media for their support.

Several other tributes had cards dedicated to Jack while others paid tribute to another boy by name, saying: “To Thomas, The world will not be same without you” and “Thomas, rest in peace. Love from Earl”.

Among the dozens of teddy bears was one with the message: “RIP beautiful angels.”