Nine drownings - including girl aged just five - since start of school holidays

Nine people have drowned since schools broke up for summer holidays, including four children. The most recent death involved a 14-year-old boy who got into difficulty in the River Thames at Millwall Outer Dock in east London on Monday. Police searched for almost four hours before recovering his body. A 14-year-old girl who laid flowers at the scene on Tuesday said people attempted to save him, initially thinking it might be a prank. The wider figures show 42 deaths in open water since mid-May’s hot weather. Among earlier victims were five-year-old Letti Cole in Worcestershire, a triple drowning on Mersea Island, Essex on July 22, and a double tragedy at Fistral Beach, Cornwall on July 26 involving father John Collins.