A TODDLER and eight-year-old boy are among the tragic young people who have died in rivers, canals and seas this year. Water safety experts have issued warnings after ten people aged 19 and under lost their lives in bodies of water during the sunnier parts of 2024 – often while out enjoying the nice weather with friends. Holli Smallman, 15, was playing on the banks in the River Severn[/caption] She was in the 220-mile long river at Welshpool, mid-Wales, when she went missing[/caption] This weekend, a bank holiday , is also set to see sunshine in some parts of the country, meaning young people may choose to go out and enjoy the pleasant conditions – with a possibility of disaster.
Carlene McAvoy, Senior Policy Manager at The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA), told The Sun about the importance of staying safe around water, “especially this bank holiday weekend”. She said: “Sadly over the summer we’ve heard of a number of drowning fatalities that have happened, and this does tend to happen more so over the summer months in the UK. “At ROSPA we’ve been looking into the data.
.. the most frequent age group from our analysis is those aged 20 to 29, and this has been relatively consistent over the past couple of years.
” Giving safety advice for people planning to use inland waterways, she said: “We suggest that you learn the water safety code, and very specifically, learn the hazards in inland waterways.” She added: “It might be easy to get.