Boy, 4, drowns after being rescued from the sea in the Center Parcs tragedy on Christmas Eve
A four-year-old boy has died after a “serious medical incident” at Longleat Center Parcs this morning.
Emergency services were called to the location in Wiltshire at around 11am today but they could not save the child.
In a statement Wiltshire Police said: “Sadly, it’s been confirmed that a four-year-old boy has died following an incident at Center Parcs Longleat Forest near Warminster shortly after 11am this morning.
“This is not being treated as suspicious. Our thoughts are with the boy’s family at this difficult time.”
A witness told The Sun the incident happened near the wave pool at the holiday park.
The witness said a member of the public helped pull a boy from the water and added: “My daughter and son saw it as well – she’s quite upset.”
Center Parcs UK confirmed the “serious incident” in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise at the park. It added that it will provide more updates “when it’s appropriate to do so.”
Center Parcs Christmas Eve horror as ‘child pulled from water in serious medical incident’ (Image: Google Maps)
The entrance to Longleat Center Parcs (Image: PA)
The tragedy comes as people across the UK are preparing to celebrate Christmas amid ongoing strikes and travel chaos.
Rail passengers trying to get home on Christmas Eve had to rush to get the last trains before services came to a halt at around lunchtime on most lines as thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union walked out.
There were big delays for people trying to get back on services to Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly, Glasgow Central and Birmingham International from Euston. They were all delayed with a limited number of staff working, leading to a lot of travellers waiting anxiously with their luggage on the station concourse.
Kartik Aggarwal was one of the people caught up in the disruption. The 24-year-old student said he was “very irritated” after two services in a row were cancelled, meaning he faced missing a Christmas party in Birmingham.
Speaking to PA news agency at Euston, while waiting with some of his family members, he said: “It’s been really bad. We were planning for a long time only to have two trains get cancelled with no notification.
“We came running but still nothing.
“I feel very irritated, like we’re wasting our time.”