Police launch urgent search for boy, 11, who went missing after entering Yorkshire river

Doncaster Response Team Inspector Neil Pryce said: "We know, from witnesses and items left on the riverbank, where the boy entered the water.

"Utilising specialist knowledge and skills, a coordinated multi-agency operation is underway and we are doing everything we can to find this young man.

"We are invaluably assisted by an underwater search team, supported from above by the police helicopter and drones.

"This is a tragic incident and we understand that members of the public want to do all they can to help but we must ask that, for everyone's safety, only those who are involved in our operation enter the River Don."

South Yorkshire Police said in a statement: "Officers, alongside emergency crews from the National Police Air Service, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, responded and a specialist search operation remains under way."

The boy's family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

Personnel from the National Police Air Service, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service have aided in the search.

The news comes amid a series of deaths with young people getting into difficulty in water during the heatwave.

Professor Carl Heneghan, Director of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, spoke out after 11 heartbreaking drowning deaths during Britain's record-breaking May heatwave.

The urgent care GP said new rules should be introduced, ensuring every child can demonstrate basic water safety skills before leaving primary school.

Prof Heneghan carried out research showing the recent tragedies are not isolated incidents but part of a national "swimming crisis".

His analysis reveals more than one in four children leave primary school unable to swim 25 metres unaided, despite swimming being a compulsory part of the national curriculum.

His research also shows an estimated 14 million adults cannot swim a 25-metre length.

He said: "These should be ‘never events’ which means they should not happen at all, and yet we have dozens every year.

"The UK has a swimming crisis. Improving swimming and water safety skills from an early age onward would make a huge impact in preventing these tragedies.

"We urgently need to take steps to improve primary school swimming provision. This is a straightforward public health and safety priority.

"Swimming is a curriculum requirement and life-saving skill, yet a significant minority of children leave school unable to swim safely.

"The UK’s geography – extensive coastline, rivers, canals and water recreation – makes water safety particularly important."

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