A woman and child were pronounced dead at the scene after ‘getting into difficulty’ in the water at Elthorne Park
A community has been left devastated following the tragic deaths of a mother and her child, who got into difficulty in water at a London park.
Emergency services have now departed the scene at Elthorne Park, near Ealing, with police, fire, and ambulance vehicles having cleared the area by 10:30pm on Saturday, April 25.
The force thanked emergency crews and members of the public for doing their “very best” in an “incredibly challenging situation”.
Abis, an Uber driver from Ealing, witnessed the significant emergency response and observed the park entrance cordoned off by police.
“I was driving along Boston Road just outside the park between 6pm and 7pm when I saw lots of blue flashing lights. There were at least two fire engines, two ambulances, and many police vehicles.”, reports the Mirror.
He continued: “I was driving a customer who had been walking his dog in the park. He told his wife that what we saw was ‘nothing compared to what was happening inside the park’. So, it was obviously even more serious than it looked.”
Abis expressed his disbelief upon learning of the tragedy at the park, which sits alongside both the River Brent and the Grand Union Canal.
“You can’t actually get to the river from the park, which is why I was so shocked to hear about it. For somebody to get to the river, they must’ve gone beyond the park boundary.”
He further noted that members of the public do not typically swim in either the river or the canal. “I haven’t heard anything about people swimming in the river before. There’s a Lido nearby in Ruislip so lots of people do their outdoor swimming there. I just can’t understand why someone would go swimming in the river.”
Adis suggested the local community would be “taken aback” by the devastating incident.
“Theres lots of families and young children in particular living in the area, so we are very very conscious of that. I’ve got two young kids myself, so we obviously want to know how something like this could happen.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson stated: “Officers are at the scene of an incident in Elthorne Park, Ealing.
“Police were called at 4.29pm following reports of two people in difficulty in the water. Officers attended with the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade.
“A woman and child were recovered from the water. We are not able to confirm their ages at this stage. Very sadly, despite the best efforts of the emergency services who provided urgent medical care, they were both pronounced dead at the scene.
“The woman and child are believed to be a mother and son. Officers are working to identify their next of kin.”
