Boy, 7, killed falling from passenger ferry and mum also dies jumping into sea in desperate bid to save him

A YOUNG boy has died after he fell overboard off a passenger ferry in the Baltic Sea. His Polish mother also perished while desperately trying to save her seven-year-old son as the ferry travelled from Sweden to Poland. GettyBoth the mother and son were pulled from the water on Thursday, but pronounced dead on Friday[/caption] The tragedy occurred on Thursday Swedish when the child fell off the vessel and his mother proceeded to jump overboard in an attempted rescue, authorities said. The two were later winched to a helicopter and taken to Karlskrona hospital in Sweden. Anders Olsson, who was on the rescue helicopter that pulled the woman from the sea, told Swedish radio today that the mother was not responsive and first aid was administered to her. Ships and helicopters from Sweden and from Nato units that were in the area assisted in the rescue operation. “First we received a report that one person had fallen overboard, then it turned out to be two,” said Lars Blom, chief of rescue operations at the Swedish Maritime Administration rescue centre. “Unfortunately, in the morning we received information from the Swedish side that we have to pass on this terrible news to the family, because both the boy and the woman are dead,” said police spokesman Mariusz Ciarka. She also told TVN24 that it was impossible to save the lives of the two Polish citizens. The Swedish ferry, Stena Spirit, was in the Baltic midway through its journey to Gdynia in Poland from Karlskrona in Sweden when the incident occurred, rescue officials said on Thursday. What brought about the incident remains unknown. “At the moment we have no information whether this was due to a malfunction of the ferry,” Stena Line spokesperson Agnieszka Zembrzycka told TVN24. “We are cooperating with the police and other authorities that are appointed to explain the causes and circumstances of this event.” Police have appealed to witnesses to discover how the incident occurred. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY… The Sun is your go to destination for the best celebrity news, football news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Download our fantastic, new and improved free App for the best ever Sun Online experience. For iPhone click here, for Android click here.  Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.