An urgent search is under way for an 11-year-old boy who went missing after entering a river in South Yorkshire.

Police were called to Ferry Boat Lane in Mexborough at 7.59pm on Saturday 30 May after the boy was seen entering the water of the River Don but was not seen getting out.

A specialist search operation is ongoing, attended by South Yorkshire police officers, alongside emergency crews from the National Police Air Service, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Underwater divers are working to try to find the 11-year-old as part of a major operation, with drone and helicopter assistance from above. The boy’s family has been informed and is being supported by specially trained officers.

Doncaster response team inspector Neil Pryce said the boy had left items on the riverbank and been seen by witnesses getting into the water, indicating where he went in.

“We know, from witnesses and items left on the riverbank, where the boy entered the water. Utilising specialist knowledge and skills, a coordinated multi-agency operation is underway and we are doing everything we can to find this young man.

“We are invaluably assisted by an underwater search team, supported from above by the police helicopter and drones. This is a tragic incident and we understand that members of the public want to do all they can to help but we must ask that, for everyone’s safety, only those who are involved in our operation enter the River Don.”

He asked that members of the public avoid watching or filming the search operation in order to allow the family some dignity amid the “tragic incident”.

“To give the boy and his family the dignity they deserve, we ask that people do not spectate or film the search operation.”

Chiedza Nyanjowa is the 13th person to die in water-related incidents during the heatwave (Merseyside Police)

It comes as at least 13 people have died during the heatwave after getting into difficulty in water.

The hot weather has attracted many people to open-water swimming which has resulted in a number of deaths across South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Cornwall, Hampshire, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Pembrokeshire, Lincolnshire and Lancashire over recent days.

These include a 72-year-old woman who died after being pulled from the water at West Angle Bay beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on Sunday and Chiedza Nyanjowa, 15, from Cheshire, who died on Saturday after getting into trouble while swimming at Formby beach on bank holiday Monday.