AN INQUIRY has been launched after a party of school children were rescued from the River Tamar when their canoes capsized between Calstock and Morwellham last Wednesday. The children, aged 10 and 11, had been involved in a canoe expedition as part of a field trip at Cornwall County Council?s Delaware Outdoor Education centre near Gunnislake. Seven youngsters from Liskeard Junior School were taken to hospital and treated for mild hypothermia after three of the eight canoes capsized. Some of them had cuts and bruises but they were all later reunited with their parents at the school. Council spokesman Mark Nicolson said it appeared that the canoes capsized when a tree branch was grabbed near to the shore. He said the council?s outdoor education provider Cornwall Outdoors, which owns and manages the centre at Delaware, was compiling a full report on last week?s events. ?This is standard procedure after any incident involving school pupils,? he said. ?The report will be compiled after talking to everyone concerned, including school staff and canoe instructors over the coming days.? Two teachers had accompanied the children and all were wearing standard buoyancy aids. One of the children who was rescued, Sam Tucker, explained how he had been trapped under the water. ?We were cold and scared to death,? he said. ?We thought we were going to go all the way down the river.? Staff at Morwellham Quay were alerted to the party by a train driver at the centre who had spotted them in trouble. Assistant director Bob Le Marchant said the river was running quite fast and there was chaos in the water. ?Once we became aware of what was happening all the staff rushed down to the river and helped the children up the bank with ropes. Some were soaking wet and some were scratched because we had to drag them up a steep bank through the brambles. ?We summoned the ambulances and took the children to the Ship Inn where we had a fire going and we gave them anything they wanted. ?It was a terrifying experience for them.?
