A POLICE officer responding to the call that children had fallen into a frozen Solihull lake punched through the ice in an attempt to save them.
This came after news that three boys aged 11, 10 and eight tragically died after being pulled from Babbs Mill Lake on Sunday, December 11.
A fourth boy, aged six, remains in a critical condition in hospital.
A search and rescue operation at the Kingshurst park has entered its second day as emergency services try to establish exactly what happened and if anyone else fell into the water.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Kingshurst park, Richard Harris, Solihull Superintendent at West Midlands Police, offered his deepest sympathies to the families and the community.
He said: “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.”
He also said police officers on the scene went into the water without specialist equipment in a bid to try and rescue the children before specialist teams arrived.
Richard Stanton, the area commander from West Midlands Fire Service, said firefighters did the same.
He added this was a stark reminder of the dangers of open waters and called on parents and carers to remind their children about the dangers of ice.
Specialist officers are working with the families, and the police and fire services are only releasing the information they want to make available to the media.
Throughout the day Sihillians have been laying flowers at the park.
West Midlands Police said it is not being treated as a criminal investigation at this time.
Anyone with information, videos or images of what happened should contact police by calling 101 or upload them here.
