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Divers recover bodies of girls swept away in river Wear Teenager who died in river Wear jumped in to help her friend, police say
(about 5 hours later)
Police dive teams have recovered the bodies of two teenage girls who got into difficulty on a fast-flowing part of the river Wear. A teenager who lost her life trying in vain to save another girl from the fast-flowing river Wear "died a hero", a friend has said.
The pair, named locally as Chloe Fowler and Toni-Beth Purvis, were spotted in the water near Fatfield, Washington, Tyne and Wear, at about 3pm on Tuesday. Tonibeth Purvis, 15, jumped in to save Chloe Fowler, 14, who had entered the river at Washington, Tyne and Wear, to cool off, Northumbria police have said.
But, after a huge search and rescue attempt, the bodies of both teenagers were recovered by police dive units on Tuesday night.
Police have since said that one or two other children also nearly drowned trying to help their friends.
Bethany Rose-McCaffrey, 15, was friends with Tonibeth and said she had "died a hero".
"I knew Tonibeth, she was loving and caring and always put people before her," she said. "If it had been a friend or a stranger, she would have gone to help.
"I did not believe it was actually her but then I found out that it was. I'm really shocked because I did not think something like this would happen.
"She has died a hero trying to save a friend's life, which shows we really do have friends out there.
"She was a really good role model and always had a smile on her face."
The police said Chloe had gone into the water first and then Tonibeth went in to help her friend.
Superintendent Alan Veitch of Northumbria police said: "Chloe went in first, Tonibeth and others went in to help her.
"Tonibeth got into difficulties and so have the others."
Veitch said Chloe, who was from Shiney Row, near Sunderland, got into the water of her own free will.
"The emerging picture is that she went in to keep cool.
"I think there's a lot of children who were trying to effect a rescue. It's difficult for the children who were involved in the actual incident itself as one or two of them nearly drowned."
In a statement issued through Northumbria police on Wednesday, Chloe's family paid tribute to the teenager, saying: "Chloe was a beautiful, kind and caring girl and we as a family are devastated by what has happened.
"We would like to thank everyone involved in helping us to look for the girls. We would ask that we are given some time and privacy to grieve."
The two girls were spotted in the water near Fatfield, Washington, Tyne and Wear, at about 3pm on Tuesday.
An off-duty policeman and a member of the public tried to save the girls before about 100 emergency service workers joined the search-and-rescue effort.An off-duty policeman and a member of the public tried to save the girls before about 100 emergency service workers joined the search-and-rescue effort.
A boy who also attempted to rescue the girls was pulled to safety by the police officer.A boy who also attempted to rescue the girls was pulled to safety by the police officer.
Emergency services workers searched throughout the day to try to locate the girls, and as evening set in a helicopter searchlight was used to light up the river.Emergency services workers searched throughout the day to try to locate the girls, and as evening set in a helicopter searchlight was used to light up the river.
Dozens of people had gathered at the river banks to watch the rescue effort.Dozens of people had gathered at the river banks to watch the rescue effort.
Paul Cronin, 63, who lives nearby, saw one of the men who had attempted a rescue.
He said: "This gentleman came running up towards the park and I thought it was strange because he was dressed in his boxer shorts, even though it's warm.
"He had just crawled out of the river and had nearly drowned himself.
"He was screaming at me: 'Can you swim?"'
They went back to the river but the first rescuer was too exhausted to go back in and Cronin said when he got there, he saw no sign of the girls.
A Northumbria police spokesman said on Tuesday night that the two bodies had been taken to Sunderland Royal hospital and the families had been informed.
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