A YOUNG boy has died and two others - including his brother - had narrow escapes after a drowning tragedy in a Little Lever canal.

The nine year old boy who died was dragged unconscious out of the canal after being under the water for up to 30 minutes.

Ambulance paramedics and firefighters were then involved in a dramatic attempt to save the boy's life. But, despite all their efforts, he lost his fight for life in hospital two hours later.

The tragedy happened on the day North West Water launched a campaign encouraging children to keep away from canals, rivers and reservoirs.

The boy's death has devastated residents on the Little Lever estate. The incident happened on a stretch of canal behind houses in Ascot Road.

Some of the residents who live near the canal attempted to rescue the drowning schoolboy, who has not been named.

One modest hero today revealed how he dived fully clothed into the "black and freezing" water to rescue one of the boys who had fallen into the canal behind his home.

He dragged the boy out of the water and revived him on the bankside with cardiac massage.

The rescuer who did not wish to be named said: "At that point I felt so elated but when he shouted his brother was still in there I felt unbelievably deflated. The mixture of emotion in just that one moment was devastating. The tragic drama happened at 6.30pm yesterday. The boys are thought to have been playing on the canal as they enjoyed a warm day during the Easter school holidays.

Passerby John Lee - whose house backs on to the canal - heard shouts for help and dived into the freezing water to try to rescue two boys.

An 11-year-old boy, named as Jonathan Southern, of Bowness Road, Little Lever, managed to swim to the side and climb out to safety alone.

A 13-year-old was led to safety by Mr Lee. Both were then cared for by residents before being taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital and treated for hypothermia.

Residents watched as three firefighters from Bolton and Bury were tied at the waist before jumping into the icy water to search for the missing boy.

They were joined moments later by a specialist in-shore rescue team from Eccles. Firefighters Darren Collier, Duncan Millington and John Reveley searched the canal for ten minutes before finding the unconscious boy under the water. Fire chief ADO Shaun O'Donnell said: "It was very difficult for us to get him across to the side. The water was very muddy and murky." Bolton Fire Station Officer Ian Medcalf today praised the members of the public who risked their own lives to help the youngsters.

ADO O'Donnell said: "They put themselves at substantial risk. I also want to thank those residents who helped out, supplying blankets and letting us enter their homes.

"This incident has subdued the firemen very much. A lot of the lads have got children themselves and it is every parent's worst nightmare." One of the residents hailed a hero today after he dived fully clothed into the water said: "I just saw a young boy disappear under the water and knew what I had to do. Anyone would have done it.

"The water was black and freezing and I could not stand in it.

"I could not see a thing but I grabbed hold of the boy and tried to turn him over and up to the bank.

Coughing

"It took me ages to drag myself up to the bank because the weight of my clothes was very, very heavy.

"But somehow I managed to get to the bank and once there get myself out. I then got the young boy out of the water.

"The boy was coughing up water. I do not know much about first aid but I turned him over and kept banging him on his back and he kept bring up more water.

"We just couldn't see the other little boy at all. I just wish that I had known he was in there. "But the water was just so black we couldn't see anything."

The youngsters who survived the tragedy were taken into another neighbour's home by the emergency services who draped blankets and quilts around the shivering boys.

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