Distressing video footage of the Babbs Mill Lake tragedy released online, leaving many ‘mortified’

 Saqib Bhatti near the location where the tragedy occurred (Image by Josh Sandiford / Birmingham Live)

After the Babbs Mill Lake tragedy that claimed the lives of four young boys in Kinghurst, Solihull on 11 December, videos of the incident were released online and left many “mortified”.

Meriden MP Saqib Bhatti, whose constituency includes Kinghurst, visited the scene on Monday and addressed the issue later on Twitter saying that he was disgusted after ghouls allegedly took a video of the youngsters screaming for help.

The three children – aged eight, ten and 11 were found dead after falling into the icy cold lake. Rescuers, including the emergency services and the police, carried out a thorough search of the waterbody at the Kingfisher Country Park in a desperate attempt to save the children, with some getting into the frozen water and smashing the ice with their bare hands.

A fourth boy, who was also rescued, and fought for his life at the hospital for three days but was reported to have died on Wednesday, 14 December.

Bhatti, after learning about the footage of the tragic incident being recorded and circulated online, wrote: “Disgusting. They should be ashamed for filming this and posting it. Out of respect for the victims and families please do not share this footage.”

The video clips, which appear to have been recorded from the flats opposite the park, captured screams of “help” coming from the lake.

The family members of the boys were made aware of the footage, according to a local source who spoke to BirminghamLive. This was just a day after the West Midlands Police requested the public to respect their privacy.

The source also told BirminghamLive that the family members were “absolutely mortified. Very angry.”

They added, “It looks like footage has made it directly to the papers. It’s not gone down well at all.”

The detectives on Tuesday, 13 December, requested the locals to not release the footage but send them to the police instead. A statement that was released by the authorities said: “We understand how distressing this is for the families and the wider community. We would ask people to not speculate or share any video footage at this stage.”