Searches under way in River Don after boy seen entering water in Mexborough
Search teams continued along the River Don after an 11-year-old boy was seen entering the water in Mexborough and did not come back out.
Police mounted a major search along the River Don in Mexborough after an 11-year-old boy was seen entering the water near Ferry Boat Lane and was not seen getting out.
South Yorkshire Police were called at 7.59pm on Saturday, May 30, and underwater search teams, a police helicopter and drones were brought in as the operation widened. South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service joined officers from the force, with the National Police Air Service also involved.
Doncaster Response Team Inspector Neil Pryce said witnesses and items left on the riverbank helped officers identify the point where the boy entered the water. He urged the public not to enter the river, spectate or film the search, saying the aim was to protect the dignity of the boy and his family while keeping the operation safe. The boy’s family had been informed and was being supported by specially trained officers.
The River Don has a history of dangerous conditions in Mexborough, where the waterway runs close to the town centre and the former ferry crossing at Ferry Boat Lane. Flood monitoring for Mexborough Lock showed the river at 0.49m at 5.45am on May 26, below the normal range of 0.68m to 3.70m, while the site’s flood page lists 4.20m as the level at which property flooding is possible. The highest level recorded there was 5.12m on November 8, 2019.
South Yorkshire’s wider flood planning has been shaped by the Connected by Water plan, first launched in January 2022 and updated in 2023. The programme now includes more than 100 projects intended to better protect over 25,000 homes and businesses across the region, including areas tied to the River Don corridor.
The incident also fits a wider national pattern tracked through the Water Incident Database, or WAID, run by the National Water Safety Forum. WAID brings together data from search and rescue reports, coroners’ reports and media reporting to build annual fatality figures and support the UK Drowning Prevention Strategy.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
