Four children critically ill after falling through frozen Solihull lake and suffering cardiac arrest
Four children are in a critical condition after falling through the ice on a Solihull lake.
They fell into the water at Babbs Mill Park on Sunday afternoon and were in cardiac arrest by the time rescue teams pulled them out.
West Midlands Police did not confirm how many were involved - or if any were still missing - but initial reports suggested up to six children were on the lake.
Teams continued searching the water overnight but the fire service said it was "no longer a search and rescue operation".
One witness told Sky News he'd seen firefighters smashing the ice and a number of people in distress, including three receiving medical attention.
Teams on inflatable dinghies were later seen using torches to search the water.
'Bystanders jumped in to help'
West Midlands Fire Service said police and members of the public were already in the water trying to reach the children when they arrived.
One police officer suffered mild hypothermia and was taken to hospital.
Emergency services said they entered the water and rescued the four children, before continuing to look for any others.
"The children were brought out of the water where they received immediate life-support care from firefighters and our ambulance colleagues," said Richard Stanton, the fire service's area commander.
"Advanced life support" continued on the way to hospital, he added, but they were in a critical condition when they arrived.
The children's names and ages haven't yet been released.
On the search for any other children who may have been involved, Mr Stanton told reporters: "The specialist medical advice we have been given on the scene, given the temperature of the water, given the age of those who entered the water and the amount of time they have been in there, this would no longer be a search and rescue operation."
Local MP Saqib Bhatti visited the scene on Monday and praised emergency services for their "heroic" efforts.
"The (search) operation went on all night in these really tough conditions," he said.
"The whole community will be feeling the pain of this. I just hope we get some good news."
Videos show children playing on the ice
Reports from the scene and social media videos indicate the children had been playing on the ice and then fallen through, the fire service said.
It comes after a weekend of snow and freezing frost, with the UK recording its lowest temperature of the year (-15.7C, 3.74F) in Aberdeenshire.
Richard Stanton, area commander for West Midlands Fire Service, warned the public not to go near open water.
"We know that the weather forecast for the next few days is expected to be bitterly cold," he said.
"Please, adults and children alike, stay away from open water. Under no circumstances venture on to ice, regardless how thick or safe you think this ice may be."
