- Kaliyah Coa, 11, drowned in the River Thames retrieving a lost shoe on March 31, 2025
- She was playing near Barge House Causeway when she entered the water and struggled to stay afloat
- A local witness called emergency services after seeing her head go under the water during the incident
An 11-year-old schoolgirl drowned after she entered the River Thames to 'retrieve her friend's shoe', Metro.UK reported citing an inquest. The girl, Kaliyah Coa, had been playing with friends near Barge House Causeway on March 31, 2025, when the tragic incident happened.
As per the report, Nathan Guy, who lives near the jetty, said he saw five children playing there. He even heard one saying, "You made me throw it." He saw Kaliyah using a scooter to get to the shoe; however, one of her friends said it was expensive.
"I saw the girl by the river. I called 999 and went back to the door and saw the girls struggling in the water. I turned away, then I saw her head under the water," he told police.
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At around 1:15 pm (local time), Coa is believed to have gone into the water to get a lost shoe. A boy aged eight or nine who was with her later said, "I tried to hold her hand, but it slipped." She reportedly died within minutes from the effects of cold water, but her body was recovered two weeks later.
According to local reports, the inquest at the East London Coroner's Court on Thursday (July 16) was attended by her parents, grandmother, uncle, and aunts. During the inquest, Kaliyah's death was recorded as accidental.
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Senior coroner Graeme Irvine said preliminary post-mortem findings from Professor Alan Bates indicated Kaliyah did not die from drowning. The provisional cause of death was given as "immersion". Irvine told the court: "The effect of being in cold water would have caused unconsciousness and death relatively swiftly."
Cold water shock can incapacitate a person within minutes, even in warm weather. Because the death was classified as "unnatural," a formal inquest was legally required.
Coroner Irvine reportedly said that Kaliyah died from immersion in the river. He said, "It seems to me that the only short-form conclusion I can give is accidental death."
