A 13-year-old girl has died in hospital after being reported missing in a river in North Yorkshire.
The teenager’s disappearance was reported at 6.30pm on Sunday at the River Wharfe, near Burnsall in the Yorkshire Dales.
She was rescued from the water a short time later and taken to hospital by air ambulance. Despite efforts of members of the public at the scene, she later died, North Yorkshire Police have confirmed.
In a statement, the authority said: “Our thoughts remain with her family at this very distressing time and we ask members of the public and the media to respect the family’s privacy and allow them to grieve in peace.”
It added: “Our thanks go to the members of the public who helped at the scene.”
MP for Skipton and Ripon, Julian Smith, thanked the emergency services and local residents who were on the scene to help.
Writing on social media, he said: “This morning all my thoughts, prayers and wishes are with the family of the young girl who died in Burnsall yesterday.
“I was so sorry and sad to hear this horrific and devastating news.”
There have been at least 15 water-related deaths during the recent heatwave, which saw temperatures reach record highs for May in the UK.
On Saturday, a 15-year-old girl from Cheshire died in hospital after swimming in the sea at a Merseyside beach on Bank Holiday Monday.
A woman in her 60s died in Lancashire on Saturday after she and a man entered the water to rescue a dog but got into difficulty. The man, also in his 60s, remains in a critical condition in hospital according to Lancashire Police.
A 19-year-old man also died after being rescued from a lake in Nottinghamshire, while a body was found on Friday in the search for a man who was understood to have got into difficulty in water in the Norfolk Broads.
Meanwhile, search efforts for a missing 11-year-old boy in South Yorkshire have entered their third day, focusing on the River Don which the boy was seen entering before going missing.
The authority said that emergency services, an underwater search team and a mountain rescue team have so far been involved in an extensive search of the river, the riverbank and nearby land.
Water safety experts have warned about the dangers of outdoor swimming in recent days as people look for relief from soaring temperatures by cooling off in bodies of water like lakes, rivers and reservoirs.
Water safety experts have warned about the dangers of outdoor swimming after a number of drownings in recent days as people try to escape soaring temperatures by cooling off in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water.
Dr Heather Massey, an associate professor in extreme environments and physiology at the University of Portsmouth, urged parents to ensure children remain supervised, and to be aware of cold water shock, as warmer temperatures do not necessarily mean warmer water.
“Unfortunately, this is something we see every year,” Dr Massey said last week.
“It’s a known problem when the air temperature increases rapidly but the water is still very cold. At this time of year, it hasn’t had time to warm up.
“If you’ve been on a beach or by the side of a river and you’ve been in the sun for some time, your skin is going to be really hot. But some of our waterways may still be very cold, and when you enter the water, the rapid reduction in skin temperature triggers involuntary gasps and rapid breathing and a big increase in heart rate.”
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