Kaliyah Coa – the young girl who slipped and fell into the River Thames in London while playing with friends – has been pictured for the first time.
A major search operation was launched after the 11-year-old plunged into the water close to Barge House Causeway, near City Airport, at 1.15pm on Monday.
For hours, the London Ambulance Service (LAS), London Fire Brigade (LFB) and the RNLI combed through the river, but found nothing.
Crews were stood down overnight, but the operation resumed earlier today with police boats patrolling the water.
A family friend at the scene told Metro: ‘I know the dad, he is going to be in a very bad place.
‘He lost another child when they were a baby. It is devastating.’
She added: ‘As a child I came here to the water and it is very dangerous.’
Tributes have been left at the scene where Kaliyah disappeared into the Thames.
A mother who laid angel wings next to flowers told Metro: ‘That poor little girl she was just going for a paddle on a warm day. It’s heartbreaking for the family. So terrible.
‘It’s so dangerous where she went in the water is deep and choppy. It’s a tragedy. There needs to be a barrier to stop people going down there.’
Another said: ‘The friends she was with when she disappeared came back to the pier the day after.
‘They looked shell shocked. How will those poor youngsters get over this?’
Chief Superintendent Dan Card said drone technology has been deployed to find Kaliyah.
‘Our specialist officers are supporting Kaliyah’s family through this deeply upsetting time and our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.,’ he said.
‘We are committed to finding Kaliyah and are working with partners to conduct a thorough search over a wide area – utilising drone technology and boats.
‘I’d like to thank the members of public, our first responding officers, and colleagues from other emergency services, as they responded rapidly to carry out a large-scale search during a highly pressurised and distressing time.
‘Equally, we appreciate this has affected the wider community who have been extremely supportive. You will see extra officers in the area during the coming days – if you have any concerns then please speak to them.’
One local told The Sun: ‘She was with two other kids. Obviously we were thinking, why aren’t they in school? But I think a lot of schools are off for Eid.
‘The little boy was holding her hand to help her step in the water but obviously she slipped, because it’s really slippy.’
The neighbour added: ‘So what we understand is the girl was playing down by the water.
‘As soon as she fell she was gone. She just disappeared into the tide. The boy came running to one of my neighbours for help but it was too late.
‘While the other kid — a little girl — went running to get a donut. All of us rushed out but it’s freezing in there.’
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”.’
The girl returned home while the boy told Ms Rajaendram where it happened.
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 said, adding: ‘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.’
She said she found shoes, a sock, a coat and a phone near the river, and handed the items to the police.
‘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.
Kaliyah’s family 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.
‘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,’ a spokesperson said.
‘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.
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‘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 1.23pm. Search operations for firefighters were concluded at 3.49pm 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.’
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