Young boys died from drowning in ice tragedy
FOUR boys who died after falling through the ice of a frozen lake in Solihull died from drowning, a coroner’s inquest hearing has been told.
Siblings Samuel Butler, six, and Finlay Butler, eight, fell into the lake along with their cousin Thomas Stewart, 11, and Jack Johnson, 10, on December 11.
They were pulled from Babbs Mill Lake, in Kingshurst, Solihull, and rushed to hospital.
The deaths of Finlay, Thomas and Jack were confirmed on Monday, December 12, while Samuel died in hospital last Wednesday.
At a vigil over the weekend hundreds of people brought candles, bouquets, children’s toys and balloons to the spot.
An initial inquest hearing, held this
week in Birmingham, was told that three of the boys were rescued after 22 minutes in the water, while a fourth was pulled from the lake after 31 minutes.
Senior Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull Louise Hunt described the incident as a “devastating tragedy,” as she opened and adjourned the four inquests.
Earlier, she heard Jack, from Kingshurst, and Thomas, of Shard End, Birmingham, were identified by their parents at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, while the two brothers Finlay and Samuel, also both from Kingshurst, were identified at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
She also heard evidence from Detective Inspector Jim Edmonds, of West Midlands Police, who gave details of how people initially raised the alarm and the subsequent “heroic efforts” of the emergency services to save the boys.
Detective Inspector Edmonds said: “West Midlands Police first contact at 2.34pm on Sunday December 11, reporting four children playing on a frozen lake at Babbs Mill Park had fallen through the ice, into the water.
“Further calls were received from other members of the public, also reporting children had fallen in to the water, but with some variance as to the number of children involved.
“Emergency services responded at pace and at arrival it became quite apparent this was a major incident and there were numerous members of the public at the location, reporting children had tragically fallen under the water.”
He added the police as well as West Midlands Fire Service and West Midlands Ambulance Service attended.
Detective Inspector Edmonds went on: “The first three boys were located and brought to the bank at 2.56pm, the same day, and approximately nine minutes later a fourth was rescued from the water.
“Emergency CPR was performed on the children at the scene and they were taken to local hospitals where they received further treatment.”
He added the boys were at this stage identified.
Detective Inspector Edmonds said: “Despite the heroic efforts of everybody involved, all four boys have sadly passed away.”
Jack and Thomas died later on December 11, Finlay, the next day, and his brother on December 14, he added.
He said that “all children involved have been accounted for”.
“A police investigation is ongoing on behalf of the coroner to establish the facts of the boys’ attendance at the lake and also how they fell into the water,” said DI Edmonds.
Setting an inquest to be heard on July 6, next year, Ms Hunt said: “The scope of the inquest will be to look at the circumstances leading to the deaths and the cause of death.”