Teen boy dies while swimming in canal with friends over Easter weekend
The boy died while swimming in a canal in Stourton, Leeds
He was pronounced dead shortly after being pulled from the water
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A teenage boy has died after getting into difficulty while swimming with friends in a canal.
Police were called to the Stourton area of Leeds on East Saturday afternoon after being alerted to the incident.
The 14-year-old boy had been swimming close to a lock before he suddenly disappeared from view.
His friends alerted the police after being unable to quickly find him.
He was pulled from the water after officers and first responders searched the canal.
It took those involved in the rescue operation about an hour and a half to find him in the water.
Despite the efforts to save him, the boy was pronounced dead shortly later.
A police spokesperson said: “At 4.32pm on Saturday, police received a concern for safety report for a male in the canal by Thwaite Lane, Leeds.
"Emergency services attended and recovered a teenage male from the water.
"He received medical attention at the scene, but was sadly pronounced deceased a short time later.
"The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file has been prepared for the coroner."
The death came as the UK experienced warmer than expected temperatures across the country over the long weekend.
Many Britons spent time outdoors in a bid to make the most of the sunshine.
Last year the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) cautioned swimmers against swimming outdoors unsupervised during the warmer weather.
Lee Heard, director of the RLSS, said: "There’s an inevitability around the warm weather and the number of people that drown.
"We don’t want people to not go into water to enjoy and learn to swim, but the reason why so many people are drowning is there seems to be a lack of understanding of their ability to swim in open water."
