The missing girl entered the river close to Barge House Causeway, near London City Airport on Monday afternoon and emergency services, including Metropolitan Police, launched a “large-scale response”
An 11-year-old girl – who is missing after she entered the River Thames on Monday – had been paddling on a day off school, residents near the scene said.
The youngster had entered the river close to Barge House Causeway, near London City Airport, at about 1.15pm, the Metropolitan Police said. Emergency services launched a “large-scale response” to the incident, the force said, but the search was later scaled down, with London Ambulance Service (LAS), London Fire Brigade (LFB) and the RNLI saying crews had been stood down.
The child had been playing near the water with a young boy and girl, residents said. 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’.”
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The girl returned home while the boy 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 lifelong area 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.
Ms Benadjaoud said the boy who had been with the girl was around eight or nine years old. She said: “The little boy turned around and said ‘I tried to hold her hand but it slipped’. I said to the little boy’s parents, obviously he needs to see someone because it’s going to affect him later”.
Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope that goes directly into the River Thames and is used to transport boats, and residents pointed out that it appeared to be covered in moss and is slippery. The girl’s next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by officers.
LAS was called at a similar time to police after receiving a report of a person in the water at Lowestoft Mews, close to the airport. A spokesperson added: “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.”
LFB deputy assistant commissioner Joseph Kenny said: “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 13:23. Search operations for firefighters were concluded at 15:49 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.”
