Boy, 6, swept away by river is ‘unlikely’ to have survived

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy who was swept away after falling into a river is “unlikely” to have survived, the police officer leading the search has said.

Lucas Dobson slipped and fell into the River Stour in Sandwich, Kent, on Saturday afternoon, while on a fishing trip with family members.

Supt Amanda Tillotson, of Kent Police, said more than 100 members of the emergency services and some 200 volunteers have been taking part in a “massive operation”.

She said: “I’ve just come from speaking to the family, and they wish to pass on their absolute gratitude for everybody, and they’re overwhelmed at the amount of people that have come out to help and search for Lucas.”

Asked how likely a positive outcome is, she told the PA news agency: “Obviously, as time has gone on now, I think it is unlikely, unfortunately.

“But, we will continue to search and obviously I would like to have a positive outcome, I would like to find Lucas, [but] we are getting increasingly

‘As soon as he fell, the three adults jumped in but the current was too strong… he could not be found’

concerned with the amount of time that is going on now.

“But it is really important that we continue to search for Lucas and continue to do that for the family, and my heart goes out to them, it really does. This is an awful, tragic incident.”

She said there were dive units still searching the river, along with specialists from other agencies, and that the current focus of efforts was centred near to where the incident happened, at Richborough Road, at 1.20pm.

Maciee Stanford, 18, Lucas’s aunt, said the boy’s father jumped into the water after Lucas fell between a jetty and a boat he had been trying to step on to. She told the MirrorOnline: “He was with his dad and his dad’s friends, along with other children. As soon as he fell, the three adults jumped in after [him] but the current was too strong, he had already gone in the short amount of time, he could not be found.”