A little boy who tried to save the life of a schoolgirl who slipped into the River Thames heartbreakingly told a witness how he tried to save her. The 11-year-old girl is said to have been paddling during a day off when she got into difficulties.

Metropolitan Police officers were called to the river close to Barge House Causeway, near London City Airport. There was later a large search of the water, including teams from the Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and London Fire Brigade (LFB). The search, which also included helicopters and boats, was called off later on Monday.

Witness Kerry Benadjaoud, 62, told how she found items including shoes, a sock, a coat and a phone, close to the river, which she gave police. She said a boy at the scene told her: “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.

“Apparently she was paddling, so her socks and shoes were off, her coat, then she must have slipped and gone down.”

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’.”

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.

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.

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 said at the time: “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.”

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