Teenage girl found dead at campsite (From Ledbury Reporter)

Teenage girl found dead at campsite

4:43pm Sunday 6th May 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A teenage girl has died at a campsite and three other people have been taken to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

West Mercia Police said officers were called to the site in Bucknell, South Shropshire, by the ambulance service at around 10am today.

Detective Inspector Gavin Kinrade said: "I can confirm that we are working with the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service to investigate this incident. We are treating the girl's death as unexplained, but at this stage there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances."

West Midlands Ambulance Service said a man and woman and a young boy, believed to be 11 years old, were taken from the scene to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

A spokeswoman said: "Crews arrived at the campsite to find CPR being carried out on a girl who was in cardiac arrest. Ambulance crews continued resuscitation efforts in an attempt to restart the girl's heart. Sadly, despite their best efforts nothing could be done to save the girl and she was confirmed dead on scene.

"A boy, believed to be 11 years old, was suffering from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. Crews and the doctor began oxygen therapy and, due to his serious condition, the boy was airlifted to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for emergency treatment. Paramedics continued to monitor the boy's condition on route to hospital.

"A woman and man were also given oxygen therapy by ambulance crews before being taken by land ambulance on blue lights to the same hospital for further treatment."

The incident happened at a campsite set in a 3/4 acre field adjacent to the Baron at Bucknell pub. Phil and Debra Wright, who own the pub and the campsite, said the four people involved were a mother and father and their two children. they estimated that the girl who died was 14 years old.

The family was part of a larger group made up of the mother's two sisters and their respective partners and children, staying in a number of tents on the site. Mr Wright said the group had become concerned when nobody in the family's tent awoke. He said: "They had gone into the tent and found them all unconscious. One of the sisters came and said, 'we need an ambulance urgently'.

"There was a disposable barbecue which they had used the night before in the porch of the tent. The emergency services were on the scene within five minutes. They worked on the girl for some time but they couldn't save her. It has been devastating. It is really tragic. Nobody has done anything wrong, they have just not realised the dangers of disposable barbecues."