Two boys poorly after pond fall

Two boys are in hospital, one in a critical condition, after falling into a garden pond in Staffordshire.

Emergency services were called to the pond in Tean during Monday evening and found two two-year-old boys had fallen into the water.

Staffordshire Police are treating the incident as a tragic accident.

West Midlands Ambulance Service praised the actions of a woman at the scene who gave the boys first aid, saying she improved their survival chances.

Ambulance crews were called to the village at 1825 BST and found a man and a woman at the scene.

The woman was resuscitating one of the boys who was taken to hospital.

Critical condition

They also found a second boy who was having trouble breathing.

He was also treated and taken to hospital but crews later found out the woman had earlier resuscitated him.

The first child to go to hospital is in a critical condition. The second is described as poorly, but stable.

Paramedic Dave Quinn said conditions had been difficult for emergency crews as it was dark and damp and the children were young.

"However, without the woman, who was doing CPR, none of the skills of the ambulance staff would have been of any use," he said.

Without her actions, there could have been a double tragedy, he added.

A police spokesman said the family were being offered support.