Three children aged 10, 11 and eight die after being pulled from frozen lake

Witnesses reported seeing "children falling into a frozen lake" at Kingfisher Country Park, in Kingshurst, at around 2.40pm.

Four children were pulled from the water and were given immediate life support having suffered cardiac arrests.

A fourth boy, aged six, remains in a critical condition at Birmingham Children's Hospital after being pulled from the water by emergency crews, including a police officer who tried to punch through ice during the rescue efforts.

West Midlands Police said a search of Babbs Mill lake in Kingshurst, Solihull, near Birmingham, was continuing but “officers had had no contact from anybody suggesting that there’s anybody else missing”. Earlier it had been reported that two other people were feared still to be missing.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "Sadly, the three boys could not be revived and our thoughts are with their family and friends at this deeply devastating time. We’ll have specialist officers offering them as much support as we can.

"We've been working alongside colleagues from the fire and ambulance services as we do all we can to support those involved.

"Searches of the lake are continuing as we seek to establish exactly what happened and if anyone else fell into the water.

"We understand how distressing this is for the families and the wider community.

"We would ask people to not speculate or share any video footage at this stage."

Members of the public and police officers initially went into the chilly waters to try to get the youngsters out, before the children were reached by specialist water rescue-trained firefighters.

Those pulled from the water were given immediate life support by ambulance and fire service personnel before being rushed to two Birmingham hospitals; Birmingham Children’s and Heartlands, where they all arrived in critical condition.

Temperatures are thought to have plunged to 1C (34F) in the area at the time of the incident, falling to -3C (26F) overnight.

During a news conference at an entrance to Babbs Mill nature reserve, Superintendent Richard Harris, of West Midlands Police, said: “We have to be 100 per cent certain that there is no one else possibly in the water at this time.

“It’s important to stress though that we’ve had no contact from anybody suggesting that there’s anybody else missing but until we’re 100 per cent certain we will be carrying on searches throughout the course of today.”

Supt Harris added: “Police officers did go into the water.

“They were joined by other members of the other emergency services. Some of the officers went in waist deep.

“One of my officers was trying to punch through the ice to actually rescue the children themselves. That officer as a result of that had some mild hypothermia yesterday. I’m pleased to say that he’s now been released from hospital and he’s absolutely fine.”

Families affected by the tragedy are “absolutely devastated”, Mr Harris said.

He told reporters: “Also this time of year, it’s on the run-up to Christmas, so close to the event itself, also adds to that tragedy.

“But as you can imagine the families are absolutely devastated, which is why we’re doing our very best to support the families.

“And obviously we’re abiding by their requests at the moment as to how much information that the families want us to to make available to the media so we’re doing everything we possibly can to support them.”

West Midlands Fire Service area commander Richard Stanton said the deaths of the three boys were a tragic reminder of the dangers of open water.

Appearing beside Supt Harris, Mr Stanton said: “Yesterday’s incident is a stark reminder to us all of the dangers of open water, especially during the winter months.

“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.

“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.”

A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said: "Reports from the scene and videos on social media indicate that people had been playing on the ice on a pond and had fallen through. Our specialist water rescue teams arrived and acted assertively to take control of the scene and carry out rescues using specialist equipment and entering the water.

"Casualties have received medical support at the scene from both firefighters and ambulance personnel prior to being taken to nearby hospitals.

"The incident is still a search and rescue operation, being led by West Midlands Fire Service.

"We would ask people to allow emergency services at the scene to go about their work in a safe and effective way.

"We will release further details when appropriate with our fellow blue-light partners."

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the three boys who have sadly died following the incident in Babbs Mill Park last night.

"Our thoughts also remain with the family of the fourth boy who remains in a critical condition in hospital."

The spokesman added: "A tragedy beyond words. The thoughts and heartfelt sympathies of everyone at West Midlands Fire Service are with the family, friends and wider community."

Meriden MP Saqib Bhatti visited the scene at Babbs Mill lake on Monday, along with the leader of Solihull Council Ian Courts and deputy leader Karen Grinsell, with each praising emergency services for their heroic efforts to pull the children from the water.

The MP told reporters: “Clearly there is one officer who has mild hypothermia. In these conditions not to worry about your own safety and just to go after those children is heroic.

“The (search) operation went on all night in these really tough conditions.

“The whole community will be feeling the pain of this.”

Councillor Courts said: “This is just about as bad as it gets. A dreadful situation.

“We are completely stunned at what’s happened.

“Clearly our thoughts and prayers have to be with the families in this situation. I can hardly imagine what the families are going through.”