Forecasters predict that the UK will see more snow today and into next week as yesterday a six year old boy died in West Yorkshire and in a separate incident three other children were injured in a sledging accident. The six year old was playing on a frozen fishing pond near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, with a twelve year old when the ice cracked plunging the pair into the freezing waters. The older boy was rescued by firefighters but the six year old had to be recovered by police divers. He was rushed to Pindersfield Hospital, Wakefield in an Air Ambulance but was pronounced dead at five past seven yesterday evening. The other boy is being treated for the effects of the cold water and is believed to be doing well.
Elsewhere in Warwickshire, three children were injured in two separate sledging accidents. A nine year old boy suffered back injuries after the sledge he was riding collided with a boulder. Just minutes later and only five miles away two thirteen year old girls, riding a rubber ring down a hillside, sustained neck injuries. Ambulance crews were forced to walk across snow-covered fields to reach the injured children, who were all taken to Horton General Hospital, Banbury. A spokesperson for the West Midlands Ambulance services said that whilst " No-one wants to be a kill-joy... these incidents tied a up a large number of ambulance resources and saw staff having to walk large distances across snow-covered fields, putting themselves in danger as well". He added that "By all means enjoy yourself while the snow lasts, but please take care."
The warning comes after a similar accident lead to the death of Francesca Anobile at Rother Valley Country Park on Tuesday. She was one of five girls who's sledge crashed into barbed wire after going out of control.
