Boy, 14, becomes 12th person to die in water during hot spell
Baltazar L’Quy, 14, died after “getting into difficulty” in the River Thames in Oxford at around 5.45pm on Wednesday
The body of a 14-year-old boy has been recovered from the River Thames, making him the 12th person to die in water-related incidents during the recent heatwave.
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Baltazar L’Quy, 14, died after “getting into difficulty” in the River Thames in Oxford at around 5.45pm on Wednesday.
Police, fire and ambulance services were called to the River Thames near Donnington Bridge, Oxford at around 5.30pm, but despite their best efforts, the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.
Thames Valley Police confirmed that the boy’s family have been informed and his death was being treated as “unexplained but not suspicious”.
Eleven other people have died in separate incidents after getting into difficulty in water at popular beauty spots during the spell of hot weather.
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Deaths resulting from water-related incidents have been reported in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Cornwall, Hampshire, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Pembrokeshire, Lincolnshire, Lancashire and Kent.
Declan Sawyer, 15, died after getting into trouble at Swanholme Lakes, Lincoln, on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, a 72-year-old woman died after being pulled from the water at West Angle Bay beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, at around 3.15pm.
Abbie Carmody-Pepper, 19, drowned during a day out at County Dublin beach on Sunday.
A 13-year-old boy, understood to be Reco Puttock, died after getting into difficulty at Leadbeater Dam, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, on Monday, while the body of a teenage girl was recovered from the water at Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire.
On the same day, Phil Crow, 68, died of cardiac arrest after entering the sea at Tregirls Beach, Padstow, to help two family members who were in difficulty, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
The body of a teenager was recovered from the water at Rother Valley Country Park, Rotherham, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, South Yorkshire Police said.
Another body has been found in the search for a teenage boy who went missing after he was last seen swimming at Hawley Lake on the Hampshire/Surrey border on Tuesday afternoon.
A 12-year-old boy who died after getting into trouble in the River Ribble at Ribchester, Lancashire, on Tuesday was named as Junior Slater from Clayton-le-Woods.
On Wednesday, Cheshire Police said the body of a 17-year-old boy had been found after he went missing in Pickmere Lake at Marston, Northwich.
At around 3pm on the same day, Kent Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to reports of concern for a person in water near Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe, Dartford.
The teenager’s body was recovered at the scene and his death is not being treated as suspicious.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued a fresh heat health alert for parts of England, as officials warn of a greater risk of water-related deaths.
The yellow alert is in place between 4pm on Thursday and 8pm on Saturday for eastern and south-east England and London.
The alert means water-related incidents could increase, including risks from cold-water shock and drowning.
South Yorkshire Police also responded to reports that a teenager had gone into the lake at Rother Valley County Park in Rotherham. His body was recovered in the early hours of Tuesday.
Emergency services recovered his body in the early hours of this morning. It came a day after 15-year-old Declan Sawyer drowned at Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln at around 2.30pm on Sunday.
A man in his 60s also died from cardiac arrest after trying to save a relative who got into difficulty in the water at a Cornish beach on Monday.
Phil Crow, 68, was hailed as a hero for trying to save his granddaughter before going into cardiac arrest in the sea at Tregirls Beach in Padstow, Cornwall at around 3.50pm.
The RNLI has warned of the "very real risk" of swimming in open water during the heatwave.
It comes as the Met Office confirmed Tuesday was the UK's hottest recorded May day in history, with temperatures reaching 35C in Heathrow and Kew Gardens, a day after the record was beaten on Monday with highs of 34.8C.
An amber health warning was extended by 24 hours for several regions in England and parts of Wales.
The UK experienced a "tropical night" on Monday as the record for the warmest minimum temperature for May was broken for the second consecutive day.
Temperatures did not fall below 20C overnight on Monday in parts of the UK, with 21.3C recorded at Kenley Airfield, south London.