12-year-old girl dies on school trip with specialist operator
An investigation is underway after a 12-year-old schoolgirl died while on a school trip in France with a specialist operator.
Jessica Lawson, from Wolfreton School, near Hull, Yorkshire, was in the Massif Central region with 24 other students and three staff with school trip specialist Activ4.
According to reports on the local French radio, she was among a group jumping from a pontoon at Club Correze activity centre on Tuesday afternoon.
The pontoon overturned, trapping some children beneath it. A lifeguard managed to revive her but Jessica died later in hospital, just before her parents arrived to see her, said the BBC.
A statement from Activ4 on Wednesday said: "We can confirm that a student on one of our trips to the south of France passed away this morning following a swimming incident yesterday afternoon.
"At this stage the exact circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear. The owners of the activity centre and senior management from Activ4 are working closely with the local authority and the school to provide all necessary support and assistance.
"While we cannot give out any further information at the current time, we ask for patience and understanding from the media during this difficult time for the parents, relatives and the students and teachers on the trip."
The group had left for France on July 18 and had been due to return home today (Thursday).
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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