Heartbreaking tributes to ‘beautiful angel' girl who died after entering River Thames
The family of a girl who died after entering the River Thames have paid tribute to their 'beautiful angel'.
The girl, named as Bia on social media, died after entering the water at Royal Pier Road in Gravesend at around 1.40pm on May 30.
A search was launched after police were called to reports of two children who had got into difficulty in the water.
The search for the girl was suspended on the evening before resuming the following morning.
At 11.40am yesterday (May 31), a body was recovered from the river in the search for her.
Formal identification by the girl's next of kin has taken place.
Police say the death is not being treated as suspicious at this stage and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Tributes have since been paid to the girl on social media with one post from Mirela Turcanu that reads: 'Oh, she left us speechless, this little girl had her whole life ahead of her, but she had the life that was decided by God.
'Smooth road to heaven, my niece.'
Leon Alkapone also described her as 'my niece, my beautiful angel'.
He said: 'Rest In Peace, Little Angel, Bia. May God comfort the grieving family.'
The boy was rescued and taken to hospital where he remains in stable condition.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A&E wait times reduced by 'Dragon's Den' idea
Waiting times in accident and emergency at Sutton-in-Ashfield's King's Mill Hospital have been reduced by moving some less seriously ill people to chairs instead of trolleys. Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's executive board met on Thursday to discuss the effectiveness of a plan called Fit2Sit, which was introduced in January to tackle overcrowding and improve the flow of patients. It involves medics identifying which patients need assessment but do not need to be lying down on a trolley while they wait, with a separate room set aside to hold 19 patients. Julia Rose, lead nurse at King's Mill's A&E, said the staff-suggested idea had "dramatically reduced" overcrowding. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the meeting was told the waiting time for non-admitted patients to be seen in A&E had dropped by about 40 minutes since the change – down from 196 minutes to 150 minutes. Meanwhile the average number of patients within the department's majors area, where patients need more intensive treatment, has dropped from 61 to 35. A total of 89% of patients are now offloaded by ambulance crews within 30 minutes of arrival, compared to 80% in December 2024. Richard Kemp, divisional director of nursing for urgent and emergency care at the trust, told the board: "We can keep our clinicians in consulting rooms [and] keep patients due an assessment in a private area. "If necessary with ongoing investigation, a patient can return to the waiting room while that happens, whereas all of those patients would have been in the majors space previously, contributing to the crowding in that area." About £12,600 was spent on Fit2Sit from money raised by the trust's Daffodil Volunteers fund, including £5,000 awarded from a "Dragon's Den" initiative, which involves hospital staff pitching their own ideas to managers about how to solve problems. Board chairman Graham Ward said: "The biggest positive is this came from our staff, their idea, their approach to how we can improve our patient experience." Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Local Democracy Reporting Service Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Takeover of GP surgery 'concerning'
Campaigners are holding a tug-of-war to highlight what they say is the threat to a community-run, non-profit GP surgery in Brighton from a private company. The Whitehawk surgery is currently run by the Wellsbourne Healthcare Community Interest Company, but it could be handed over to Leeds-based One Medical Group after NHS Sussex started procuring for a new contract. NHS Sussex said it could not comment on the procurement process as it was still under way. Janet Sang, part of Sussex Defend NHS, said the campaign group was "extremely concerned" that an "effective and well-loved GP service" could be transferred to a profit-making entity. "We believe this is... not in the best interests of the people of Whitehawk," she added. One Medical Group, which said it had more than two decades of experience in "delivering high-quality primary care services across the UK", said it could not comment as the procurement process was ongoing. It added it had "consistently delivered [NHS services] to the highest standard across diverse demographics". "We pride ourselves on.... our collaborative approach with local communities, ensuring that healthcare is both reflective and responsive to local needs," it continued. NHS Sussex said it needed to procure a new contract for running the doctor's surgery, which serves around 8,300 people, as the current one has expired. It said the new contract had been designed to meet the needs of the local population in what it called one of the most deprived areas in Sussex. Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC took over the GP surgery several years ago after the previous private provider walked away, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Anger over uncertain future of GP surgery Brighton & Hove City Councillor David McGregor, who said he planned to attend the tug-of-war event, said the Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC had done a "fantastic job" and NHS Sussex should "reconsider". Chris Ward, Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, has started a petition - titled Save Wellsbourne Healthcare - that has more than 3,000 signatures as of 5 June. Sarah Webb, business manager at Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC, previously urged NHS Sussex to talk to the people of Whitehawk. "Listen to residents," she told BBC Radio Sussex in May. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Anger over uncertain future of GP surgery NHS Sussex Local Democracy Reporting Service
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Venezuelan family feels full force of Trump's crackdown
Mercedes Yamarte's three sons fled Venezuela for a better life in the United States. Now one languishes in a Salvadoran jail, another "self-deported" to Mexico, and a third lives in hiding -- terrified US agents will crash the door at any moment. At her zinc-roofed home in a poor Maracaibo neighborhood, 46-year-old Mercedes blinks back tears as she thinks about her family split asunder by US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. "I wish I could go to sleep, wake up, and this never happened," she says, as rain drums down and lightning flashes overhead. In their homeland, her boys were held back by decades of political and economic tumult that have already prompted an estimated eight million Venezuelans to emigrate. But in leaving, all three brothers became ensnared by politics once more, and by a US president determined to bolt the door of a nation once proud of its migrant roots. For years, her eldest son, 30-year-old Mervin had lived in America, providing for his wife and six-year-old daughter, working Texas construction sites and at a tortilla factory. On March 13, he was arrested by US immigration agents and summarily deported to a Salvadoran mega jail, where he is still being held incommunicado. The Trump administration linked Mervin and 251 other men to the Tren de Aragua -- a Venezuelan gang it classifies as a terrorist group. Washington has cited tattoos as evidence of gang affiliation, something fiercely contested by experts, who say that, unlike other Latin American gangs, Tren de Aragua members do not commonly sport gang markings. Mervin has tattoos of his mother and daughter's names, the phrase "strong like mom" in Spanish and the number "99" -- a reference to his soccer jersey not any gang affiliation, according to his family. - The journey north - Mervin arrived in the United States in 2023 with his 21-year-old brother Jonferson. Both hoped to work and to send some money back home. They had slogged through the Darien Gap -- a forbidding chunk of jungle between Colombia and Panama that is one of the world's most dangerous migration routes. They had trekked north through Mexico, and were followed a year later by sister Francis, aged 19, who turned around before reaching the United States and brother Juan, aged 28, who continued on. When the brothers entered the United States, they registered with border officials and requested political asylum. They were told they could remain legally until a judge decided their fate. Then US voters voted, and with a change of administration, at dawn on March 13, US immigration agents pounded the door of an apartment in Irving, Texas where the trio were living with friends from back home. Immigration agents were serving an arrest warrant when they saw Mervin and said: "You are coming with us too for an investigation," Juan recalled. When the agents said they had an arrest warrant for Mervin too, he tried to show his asylum papers. "But they already had him handcuffed to take him away," Juan said. He was transferred to a detention center, where he managed to call Jonferson to say he was being deported somewhere. He did not know where. Three days later, Jonferson saw his brother among scores of shorn and shackled men arriving at CECOT, a prison built by El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to house alleged gang members. Jonferson saw his handcuffed brother kneeling on the floor staring off into space. He broke down crying and called his mother. She had also seen Mervin in the images. "My son was kneeling and looked up as if to say: 'Where am I and what have I done to end up here?'" said Mercedes. "I have never seen my son look more terrified" she said. - The journey south - After his brother's arrest, Jonferson had nightmares. The fear became so great that he fled to Mexico -- what some euphemistically describe as "self-deportation". There, he waited a month to board a Venezuelan humanitarian flight to return home. "It has been a nightmare," he told AFP as he rode a bus to the airport and from there, onward home. Juan, meanwhile, has decided to remain in the United States. He lives under the radar, working construction jobs and moving frequently to dodge arrest. "I am always hiding. When I go to the grocery store I look all around, fearful, as if someone were chasing me," he told AFP asking that his face and his whereabouts remain undisclosed. As the only brother who can now send money home, he is determined not to go back to Venezuela empty-handed. He also has a wife and seven-year-old son depending on him. But he is tormented by the thought of his brother Mervin being held in El Salvador and by the toll it has taken on the family. "My mother is a wreck. There are days she cannot sleep," Juan said. "My sister-in-law cries every day. She is suffering." - The journey home - Jonferson has since returned to Maracaibo, where he was greeted by strings of blue, yellow, and red balloons and a grateful but still forlorn mother. "I would like to be happy, as I should. But my other son is in El Salvador, in what conditions I do not know," Mercedes said. But her face lights up for a second as she hugs her son, holding him tight as if never wanting to let him go. "I never thought the absence of my sons would hit me so hard," she said. "I never knew I could feel such pain." For now, the brothers are only together in a screen grab she has on her phone, taken during a video call last Christmas. mav-mbj/lbc/dw/arb/tc