The 11-year-old girl who remains missing after falling she entered the River Thames had been paddlng with her friends moments before she vanished, residents near the scene said. The tragic incident happened on Monday, March 31 at around 1.15pm close to Barge House Causeway, near London City Airport, the Metropolitan Police said.
Emergency services launched a “large-scale response”, involving coastguard and specialist teams, in a bid to find the young girl. The operation involved Border Force vessels and a search and rescue helicopter – and tragically there has been no update on the youngster’s whereabouts.
Shaleen Rajaendram, 59, who lives on Barge House Road which leads onto the causeway, said: “I heard upstairs a guy was screaming ‘wait there, wait, the police is coming’.” The man was standing on a balcony in a flat block overlooking the river and later told Ms Rajaendram he had been alerted by the children “shouting, screaming”, she said.
Ms Rajaendram continued: “Then I saw suddenly two kids were coming out to the top of the bridge, I said ‘what happened?’ Then they said ‘one of my friends was playing in the water, one of my friends has gone into water and she’s gone underneath and we can’t find her’.” One of he two children then told Ms Rajaendram where the incident took place. Ms Rajaendram then called her neighbour, Kerry Benadjaoud, 62, who took a life ring down to the water but could not see the girl.
A man said he had called the police, Ms Benadjaoud added. She said: “But he said at the time he could see her (the girl’s) hands going down. So, by the time I got down there with the ring I couldn’t find her.”
The local resident said she discovered shoes, a sock, a coat and a phone near the river, and handed the items to the police. The resident continued: “Apparently she was paddling, so her socks and shoes were off, her coat, then she must have slipped and gone down”, she added. The girl’s next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by officers.
A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said: “We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an advanced paramedic, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team. Our crews assisted our emergency services partners at the scene but were later stood down.”
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Joseph Kenny added: “Firefighters responded to reports of a person in the River Thames near Lowestoft Mews, Newham. Crews from East Ham, Barking, Ilford and Bexley fire stations were sent to the scene alongside crews from the HM Coastguard, RNLI, London Ambulance Service and the Metropolitan Police Service. The Brigade also deployed its drone team and fire boat as part of its response, with crews carrying out a systematic search of the area. The Brigade was first called about the incident at 1323. Search operations for firefighters were concluded at 1549, when responsibility for the incident was left with the police.”
A spokesperson for the RNLI said: “Tower RNLI was requested to launch this afternoon (March 31) to an incident near Woolwich. The lifeboat was later stood down.”
