Four children on life support in critical condition after falling through ice on lake at Babbs Mill Park in Solihull

Four children have been pulled from a lake in cardiac arrest and taken to hospital after falling through ice at a nature park in Solihull.

Emergency services were called to Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst at 2.36pm on Sunday, with reports from the scene and social media indicating that children had been playing on the ice and had fallen through.

West Midlands Ambulance Service tactical commander Cameron McVittie added that the four children were in cardiac arrest when they came out of the water, and are currently on life support.

He said: “There’s no clinical updates at this stage, as stated they were all in a critical condition on arrival at hospital.”

“Unfortunately, the children in the water were in cardiac arrest and were receiving advanced life support en route to hospital,” he added.

Asked if they know how long the children were in the water for, he said: “Unfortunately not at this stage.”

On whether there have been any fatalities, he said: “There is no clinical update at this stage.”

Superintendent Richard Harris, of West Midlands Police, told an emergency services press conference on Sunday evening: “Four children were rescued from the lake and subsequently taken to hospital.

“On behalf of West Midlands Police we understand how distressing this is for families and the wider community and we are doing everything we can to support all those involved.”

Richard Stanton, West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service area commander, said: “When the fire service arrived at the scene, we were made aware there were up to six people in the water.

“So after rescuing the four children, we have continued the search and rescue operation to confirm whether there were any more in the water.”

He added: “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.”

The press conference heard that one of the police officers suffered mild hypothermia and is making a “full recovery” in hospital.