Boy, 13, among 10 drowned
THE family of a schoolboy who drowned cooling off in a river told of their devastation as the number of heatwave deaths in watercourses and off Britain’s coasts rose to at least ten.
Relatives of Robert Hattersley, 13, said he ‘brought a smile to so many people’s faces’.
The teenager, of Crawcrook, Tyne and Wear, got into difficulty while swimming in the River Tyne near Ovingham, Northumberland, on Sunday. Despite efforts of onlookers to rescue him, he disappeared and a search operation was launched. Police yesterday confirmed a body had been found. Robert’s family said: ‘It is impossible to put into words the heartbreak we’re feeling – he was so kind and loving.’
In a Facebook post his sister Emma Patterson added: ‘Sadly, my little brother has been taken way too soon. I’m heartbroken.’
In a further drowning yesterday morning, a 16-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in Bray Lake in Maidenhead. He is the tenth person to die since July 9.