The family of an 11-year-old girl who went missing in the Thames last month have been informed that a body has been found in the river.
Kaliyah Coa, who had been playing with another young girl and boy during a school inset day, slipped into the water on 31 March before a life ring could be thrown to her, nearby residents said.
She entered the Thames near Barge House Causeway, close to London City Airport in east London, and was not found despite a huge search by emergency services.
The Metropolitan Police has now said her family was told that a body was found in the river on Sunday morning.
Officers were alerted to a body in the River Thames in Maritime Quay in east London on Sunday at 9.03am.
A police spokesperson said: “The body is yet to be formally identified. However, the family of Kaliyah Coa have been informed of this development and are being supported by specialist officers.”
Kaliyah’s family asked that their privacy be respected at this time, the force added.
At the time of her disappearance, emergency services launched a “large-scale response”, but the search was later scaled down, with the London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and the RNLI saying crews had been stood down.
Kerry Benadjaoud said a male neighbour told her he had called the police. She said: “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.”
The lifelong area resident said she discovered 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.
