Coastguard issues urgent plea to parents in the Isle of Grain area to contact them after two children reported in the water
UK Coastguard has issued an urgent plea for parents to
contact them if their children were playing on the beach opposite Allhallows
Caravan Holiday Park, Isle of Grain off the Thames Estuary, Kent late this afternoon (Monday
5 September).
A massive search and rescue operation is currently underway
after it was reported that two children were seen playing in the water.
Dai Jones, Duty Controller for the UK Coastguard said:
‘Two young boys aged around 8-12 were seen playing in the water in this area at
around 5.15pm. We believe they may have swam to shore as there were
limited people on the beach at that time, however we must be absolutely
sure. As a precautionary measure we are carrying out an extensive and
thorough search of the area. We are also urging parents who might have
had children playing in that location at that time to contact us directly, if
they think that it was their children that were seen in the water, so we can
rule out that these two boys may be missing or have got into difficulty in the
water.’
‘At the current time, we have the Medway Coastguard Rescue
Team conducting a shoreline search and the Sheerness RNLI inshore lifeboat
covering the coastal area. We have also tasked the UK Coastguard search
and rescue helicopter based at Lydd. Kent Police are also on scene.’
‘We are working with Kent Police
to carry out enquiries at the Caravan Park which are continuing however,
parents who might have any further information about these two young boys are
being urged to call us on 999 and ask
for the Coastguard.’