Coastguard launch desperate hunt for two teenage boys, 16 and 18, who vanished in the sea off Lancashire coast
- Search resumes for 16-year-old boy and 18-year-old man off Lancashire’s coast
- The pair went missing near St Annes Pier in Lytham St Annes on Saturday at 7pm
- A 15-year-old boy managed to swim to shore and is being treated in hospital
- Police ask the public not to try and help with the search as it enters a second day
A desperate search has resumed off the coast of Lancashire this morning to find two teenagers who went missing near a pier as a third remains in hospital.
Police and coastguard crews launched a search to find a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man who went missing close to St Annes Pier in Lytham St Annes, just before 7pm on Saturday.
A 15-year-old boy is being treated in hospital after he managed to swim to the shore.
All three teenagers are from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
Two teenagers, aged 16 and 18, went missing near St Annes Pier in Lancashire on Saturday evening. A 15-year-old boy remains in hospital after swimming to shore
Coastguard workers are out at Lytham St Annes in Lancashire today on the second day of a search for two teenagers who went missing near the town’s pier
In a statement, Lancashire Police said: ‘Our HM Coastguard and RNLI colleagues searched the water well into the night.
‘They have been able to start looking again this morning and the police helicopter will soon also join the search.
‘We will continue to offer our support.
‘If you have any information that could help the search, please call 101 quoting reference 1398 of August 15.
‘Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of the missing man and boy.’
Police urged people not to help with the search, a force spokesman added: ‘We appreciate people offering, however, your safety is extremely important to us and so we would ask that you leave it to ourselves, the Coastguard, RNLI and NPAS (the National Police Air Service).’
Coastguard rescue teams from Lytham and Fleetwood and the coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Caernarfon attended the scene on Saturday after they received a 999 call just before 6.40pm, said HM Coastguard.
They were joined by RNLI lifeboats from Lytham St Annes and Blackpool, and independent rescue service Southport Lifeboat, together with Lancashire Police and North West Ambulance Service.
The coastguard helicopter is no longer on site and a police helicopter has joined the search on Sunday, HM Coastguard added.
Coastguard and RNLI crews are out searching off Lancashire’s coast this morning after two teenagers went missing yesterday evening
Last week five bodies were pulled from waters around the country in the space of 48 hours.
Last Sunday a mother in her 30s drowned at Waxham in Norfolk after she jumped into the sea to rescue her son and his friend, who had got into difficulty in a kayak.
Less than two hours later the body of 12-year-old Ava Gray was found in the River Leven, near Balloch Bridge in Scotland, following a lengthy search.
On Monday a Sussex man’s body was pulled from the water off Lancing beach, the RNLI announced a second body was found the following day.
There was further tragedy on Monday as the body of man in his 60s was pulled from the water in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.
Police are treating the death as unexplained but not suspicious.