Mr Edmonds said: “The first three boys were located and brought to the bank at 2.56pm the same day, and approximately nine minutes later a fourth was rescued from the water.”
He added that “emergency CPR was performed on the children at the scene and they were taken to local hospitals where they received further treatment”, saying that the boys were identified at this stage.
“Despite the heroic efforts of everybody involved, all four boys have sadly passed away,” he said. Jack and Thomas died later on Dec 11, Finlay the next day and his brother on Dec 14.
“A police investigation is ongoing on behalf of the coroner to establish the facts of the boys’ attendance at the lake and also how they fell into the water,” added Mr Edmonds.
Setting an inquest to be heard on July 6, next year, Ms Hunt said: “The scope of the inquest will be to look at the circumstances leading to the deaths and the cause of death.”
She said the inquest would hear a pen portrait of each boy from a family member, overviews from each of the three emergency services involved about their responses, and evidence of the hospital care given.