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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| River Wear search at Fatfield for missing teenagers | River Wear search at Fatfield for missing teenagers |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A large-scale search of the River Wear is being carried out for two missing teenage girls. | |
| Police, firefighters, a helicopter, the ambulance service and specialist dive teams are searching the water near the viaduct in Fatfield, Washington. | Police, firefighters, a helicopter, the ambulance service and specialist dive teams are searching the water near the viaduct in Fatfield, Washington. |
| Northumbria Police said it received "concerned" reports of two girls in the water just before 15:00 BST. | Northumbria Police said it received "concerned" reports of two girls in the water just before 15:00 BST. |
| The Fatfield Bridge has also been closed and traffic on nearby roads diverted. | |
| Supt Alan Veitch of Northumbria Police said: "There were two people on the banks who saw the children in difficulty. | |
| "One was an off-duty police officer going for a run who dived in and saved a boy who was trying to save one of the missing girls. | |
| "Another gentleman dived in and swam the width of the river to get to one of the girls but he came up empty-handed. He was distraught as you can imagine." | |
| He said that the river was still tidal at the point where the girls went missing, and there was a lot of debris and foliage in it. | |
| He added: "Officers are with the girls' families offering them support at this time." |