THREE schoolgirls had a ‘miraculous’ escape after a 40ft tree fell on them while they were playing in a river in a Blackburn park.

Ellie Jade Bull, Maisy Goulden, both 11, and 12-year-old Aloysia Reilly are said to be ‘lucky to be alive’ after the tree in Witton Park uprooted and fell, trapping them while they were fishing in the River Darwen.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Council bosses now plan to survey the rest of the trees in the park to make sure the ‘unfortunate accident’ does not happen again.

Two 12-year-old boys were hailed ‘heroes’ after they jumped into the water to try to help the girls, who were pinned down by tree branches.

Six runners also jumped into the water and managed to free the Darwen Vale school pupils, who were all taken to hospital after the incident at about 6.50pm on Monday.

Maisy, who was hit on the head by the branches after hearing a cracking noise, said: “We just looked up and the tree was falling, but we couldn’t run.

“We tried to move but we couldn’t so we started to shout for help.

“I was in shock and shivering. I felt very frightened.

“The branches were all in our faces. We couldn’t see.

“I did not know if we were going to get out.”

Ellie Jade was hit on the back of the neck by the branches.

She said: “I was just really scared. I did not know what was going to happen.”

Maisy and Aloysia were taken to hospital in an ambulance, while Ellie Jade was taken by her parents Phil Bull, 34, and Susan Hart, 45, of Hurst Wood Avenue, and put in a neck brace.

Doctors feared she had fractured her neck, but later diagnosed her with muscle damage.

Maisy suffered cuts and bruises to her face and legs as well as pain on the left side of her body.

Aloysia, who was also hit on the head, was sent home with painkillers after a number of X-rays because of pain in her neck and spine.

Her dad Paul Reilly, 41, said his daughter was ‘really shaken up’.

He added: “She didn’t want to sleep alone and she said she is not going near the park again. It could have been a lot worse.”

Maisy’s mum Beverley Watson, 36, of Bonsall Street, said she got a phone call from a neighbour and initially thought her daughter was up a tree.

She said: “When I saw the tree I felt sick. My legs went to jelly. You don’t expect a tree like that to fall. It was miraculous they escaped.”

Mr Bull, a team leader at Blackburn marketing company MDA, said: “Luckily there were people there to help. I can’t understand how a tree can just fall over. It could have been a different story. We could have been burying these girls.”

Describing the rescuers as ‘heroes’, he said: “A massive thank-you to the lads that raised the alarm and the runners who helped. They were brilliant. They could have flipped, but they kept a level head.”

Miss Watson said: “We want to say thank-you to all of the emergency services that helped out and the woman who came from the gym to help. They were all brilliant.”

The alarm was raised by St Bede’s pupils Kyle Mashiter, 12, and Kieran Lynchehaun, 12, who described the sound of the trees crashing as like ‘gunshots’.

Kyle said: “We realised the tree was coming down and managed to get out of the way. The girls were trapped under the tree and were screaming so we ran over and helped get them out.”

Kieran’s mum Fiona Lynchehaun, 44, said her son jumped in despite having a broken arm.

His dad Kevin, 56, said: “He makes me so proud. He’s a cracking lad. It’s in his nature to help people.”

Rick Wilson, 49, who runs a couch to 5k running group in the park, said at first they thought the trees were being felled before hearing screams. He and five other members ran and jumped in.

He said: “It was a case of ripping the branches to try and get them off.

“We jumped straight in the river. It was a desperate situation. The river was flowing quite fast and we could just hear the children screaming. We were trying to get information out of them to find out if there was anyone else under there.

“It was over quite quickly and we managed to get the girls out.”

A spokeswoman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said it would be carrying out checks on the other trees in the park.

Martin Eden, director of Environment and Leisure, said it was an ‘unfortunate accident’.

He said: “I’d like to thank everyone who came forward to assist the girls especially the two members of our staff who along with two off duty police officers didn’t hesitate to go to their assistance.

“I wish the girls well in their recovery.”