Body Recovered From River Ribble In Ribchester After Police Search For Missing 12-Year-Old Boy

A body was recovered from the River Ribble in Ribchester after police searched for a missing 12-year-old boy who got into difficulty while swimming with friends.

“- Published A body has been found in a search for a 12-year-old boy who went missing while swimming in a river”

BBC

Lancashire Police said it received a report of a concern for safety at 2.06pm on Tuesday after a boy had gone into the River Ribble at Ribchester.

BBC

After a large-scale search involving Lancashire Police’s underwater search unit and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, with North-West Ambulance Service providing support, a body was recovered from the river just before 8pm.

Lancashire Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious and that a file would be passed in due course to HM Coroner.

The BBC said police and fire crews launched a major search until a body was recovered from the water at about 19:50 BST.

Lancashire Police told the public that the boy, aged 12, had got into difficulty while swimming with friends in the river, and that a large-scale search was launched with officers from the underwater search unit and colleagues from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.

The Lancashire Police statement said: "Very sadly, a body was recovered from the river around 7.50pm."

Blog Preston

While formal identification had not yet taken place, police said they believed it to be the body of the missing boy and that the boy’s family was being supported by specially trained family liaison officers.

The BBC reported that a resident told BBC North West Tonight that part of the river was a "hotspot" for children and that it tended to be people from out of the area who visited to swim.

The BBC also said the death was not believed to be suspicious and that a file would be passed to the coroner.

The BBC linked the Ribchester incident to a wider pattern of water-related deaths, noting that three teenagers died in open water in West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Warwickshire on Bank Holiday Monday.

“Body found after 12-year-old boy went missing while swimming with friends Lancashire Police recieved reports after a boy went missing at River Ribble Police have confirmed a body has been found after a 12-year-old boy went missing while swimming with friends”

Bristol Live

The BBC said a 15-year-old boy drowned in a lake near Lincoln on Sunday, and that in Halifax a 13-year-old boy named locally as Reco Puttock was pronounced dead after being pulled from Leadbeater Dam.

The BBC reported that the spate of deaths followed the drowning of 15-year-old Declan Sawyer at Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln on Sunday, and that emergency services were also searching for a teenage boy reported missing in Pickmere Lake in Cheshire.

The BBC quoted the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) warning that "warmer weather unfortunately sees an increase in accidental drownings" and said water temperatures remained very cold despite increased air temperatures.

The BBC added that cold water shock could make swimming difficult and increase the difficulty in getting out of the water, and it urged anyone who saw someone in an emergency in the water to call 999 and throw them something that floats.