Body found in search for girl, 9, who 'got into difficulty' on river thames

Police searching for a missing nine-year-old girl who got into difficulty in the River Thames have found a body. Emergency services had been frantically searching for the youngster, who

disappeared under the water by the Royal Terrace Pier, in Gravesend, Kent on Friday, May 30. A boy has since been rescued and is in a stable condition in hospital. Kent Police said the body

of the girl was recovered at around 11.40am Saturday. A spokesman said: "Formal identification by the missing girl's next of kin has taken place. The death is not being treated as

suspicious at this stage and a report will be prepared for the coroner." Police were called by the Port of London Authority at 1.46pm on Friday to concerns for the welfare of two

children who had entered the river at Royal Pier Road, they said. A huge search was launched by emergency services, including the police, coastguard, RNLI and ambulance service. A boy was

retrieved from the water and remains at a local hospital in a stable condition, police said. Lifeboats and coastguard helicopters spent Friday afternoon hunting for the girl, who vanished

near the Royal Terrace Pier at Gravesend, Kent, in front of her parents. Locals joined the authorities at the promenade to help the family, believed to be from Romania, with the search for

the missing girl. Her brother, thought to be aged seven, was recovered from the water and has been taken to the hospital where his condition was deemed not to be life-threatening. Two men

jumped into the river to save him, KentOnline reports. An eyewitness told Kent Online: “Officers are stationed along the river from Royal Terrace Pier to Town Pier and appear to be looking

in the water. There are approximately four boats out at sea, including police and RNLI vessels.” Warning signs reading 'DANGER. Strong currents. Deep mud. WARNING KEEP OFF' are

posted every 40ft along the promenade edge. Two park users told the Daily Mail the children had gone onto a jetty which leads down to the water before the alarm was first raised at around

1.35pm. A woman, who did not want to be named, said: "Apparently they were sitting on the end of the jetty with their feet in the water. Exactly what happened I don't know but the

jetty is very slippery. There’s steps off of it." _FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AND STORIES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE FROM THE DAILY STAR, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER BY CLICKING __HERE__._