A 15-year-old girl is in a critical condition after getting into difficulties in the water at Formby beach on Monday, Merseyside Police said.
A force spokesman said emergency services were called to the beach at about 3.30pm on the bank holiday.
The girl was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and remains in a critical condition, the spokesman said.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Nuttall said: “We know that Formby beach was exceptionally busy on bank holiday Monday but I would appeal for anyone who witnessed this incident or has any information which could assist our inquiries to get in touch as a matter of urgency.
“Our officers and I would also like to offer our gratitude to the members of the public who came to the assistance of the 15-year-old girl and her family during such tragic circumstances on Formby beach.
“At this stage we believe the girl got into difficulties in the water and members of the public came to her aid.”
In recent days people have died after struggling in open water in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire and Lancashire.
Declan Sawyer, 15, died after getting into trouble at Swanholme Lakes, Lincoln, on Sunday.
A 13-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty at Leadbeater Dam, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, on Monday and the body of a teenage girl was recovered from the water at Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire.
The same day, a man in his 60s 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 fourth teenager was recovered from the water at Rother Valley Country Park, Rotherham, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, South Yorkshire Police said.
And on Tuesday evening, Lancashire Police said a body had been recovered from the River Ribble after a 12-year-old boy got into difficulty while swimming with friends at Ribchester.
The RNLI warned of the “very real risk” of swimming in open water during the heatwave and said that while temperatures have hit record highs for May, water temperatures remained low and this could lead to cold water shock.
