A teenager is feared dead after he jumped into water to help save the lives of 10 children.
Callum Osborne-Ward, 18, is believed to have been carried off by a rip tide at Rockley Point, Poole Harbour, yesterday afternoon.
The children had been seen jumping into the water from a railway bridge that spans the harbour before being dragged away.
Their parents jumped in, along with Callum, and three of them ended up in hospital as a precaution.
When it became clear that the teenager was still missing an air and sea search was triggered.
Holidaymaker Leanne Edwards said: ‘When we first arrived it was just the Rockley Park staff doing the rescuing. Then three ambulances and two small ambulances arrived.
‘We were told that four kids had been swept beneath the bridge. They just got carried away.
‘There was one teenage girl on a boat at the end of the pontoon. She was unable to move. Two teenagers were sat beside the pontoon. Another was sat near the mooring.’
One woman, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I was here just as it started kicking off. Two kids fell in and four adults jumped in and tried to save them.’
A police spokesman confirmed that 10 people were checked over by the ambulance service and three of them taken to hospital as a precaution.
Chief Inspector Glen Doran said: ‘At this current time Callum remains unaccounted for and we cannot say for certain whether he is still in the water or has made it to land and is lost somewhere in the local area.
‘We are working with the Coastguard and RNLI to carry out extensive searches of the water and shoreline and I am appealing to anyone who has any information as to his whereabouts – or who sees a young man matching the description given – to please contact us immediately.’
Callum is described as white, 5ft 5ins tall and with short brown hair. He has the word ‘Dad’ tattooed on his chest and was wearing blue swimming shorts.
The incident happened in a stretch of water that is notorious for its rip tides.
Last Friday, two sisters aged 13 and nine, were rescued from the same spot after they were dragged into deeper water.
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