IT is thought the man being questioned over the attempted murder of two children by drowning them in a Worcestershire river is the father of the youngsters.

A man reported to be Chris Grady drove his car straight into the river Avon at Evesham, at about 9.20am yesterday, with six-year-old Ryan and five-year-old Gabrielle inside.

The man managed to scramble free and the boy was plucked from the freezing water by quick-thinking police officers, who jumped in to rescue him.

But, as reported on this website throughout yesterday, the girl was trapped in the sunken car for around two hours before being recovered by specialist divers.

The man is still being questioned by police on suspicion of attempted murder.

The children were airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where their condition was last night described as critical.

West Mercia Police were first to receive an emergency call at 9.18am.Emergency services arrived at the scene, off Boat Lane, within minutes to find the man and boy out of the car and in the water. Police officers jumped into the river to rescue the six-year-old.

Police had called firefighters 10 minutes later and members of the town’s retained crew managed to throw lines to the man and pull him out.

The boy was airlifted at 10.15am, arriving at Birmingham Childrens' Hospital hospital at 10.33am. Meanwhile, the man was taken to Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, where he was treated and later discharged.

The five-year-old girl still in the car could not be reached until police divers arrived from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

Watch manager Julian Jenkins, of Evesham fire station, said: “When we got to the river we found a police officer in the water rescuing a boy and another man was rescued by our retained crews using throwing lines.

“The car itself was about a third of the way out into the river, and the roof was about 5ft to 6ft down. We have swimming equipment and we got the rescue boats out there in the river but it was too deep.

“We couldn’t go in because the river was up, and there are potholes, eddies and a nasty current. Once the police divers got here they got the young lady out very quickly.”

West Mercia Police also called in support from Avon and Somerset Constabulary’s dive team. The unit spent all day assisting emergency services and will be helping recover the vehicle later today.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “When crews arrived, the man and a young boy were already out of the vehicle.

“The boy’s condition was stabilised before he was airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital in a critical condition. The man was taken by ambulance to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

“A young girl was pulled from the submerged vehicle around two hours later by police divers. Ambulance staff started resuscitation attempts and she too was airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. This was an extremely difficult incident for the staff from all three emergency services.

“Their close co-operation has ensured everything that could possibly be done has been.”

Murray MacGregor, ambulance service spokesman, said: “There is good evidence that people do survive situations like this, admittedly not often.

“But I am convinced that the hospital staff and our ambulance staff have done everything possible to try and save her.”

Last night, a police family liason officer said: “Both children are being treated. The family are at the hospital as well.

“They are both critically ill at this stage.”

Incident support officer for Worcester Ambulance Station Nick Toy, who was at the scene, praised the work of the emergency crews. “It was a very distressing incident for us all but it does reflect the professionalism of these people that they are able to continue to do this.”