Picture released of missing girl Kaliyah Coa

A photograph of Kaliyah Coa, an 11-year-old girl who went missing in the River Thames on Monday, has been released by the Metropolitan Police.

Police were called at about 13:20 BST after Kaliyah, who had been playing during a school inset day, entered the water near Bargehouse Causeway, near London City Airport in east London.

Emergency services launched a “large-scale response” to the incident, the force said, but crews from the London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade (LFB) and the RNLI were later stood down.

The Met said a recovery mission was now under way along the Thames.

On Tuesday, a witness who lives near the causeway said he had been alerted to the incident by the children who were with Kaliyah “shouting, screaming”.

His neighbour, 59-year-old Shaleen Rajaendram, added: “Then I saw suddenly two kids were coming out to the top of the bridge, I said ‘what happened?’

“Then they said ‘one of my friends was playing in the water, one of my friends has gone into water and she’s gone underneath and we can’t find her’.”

One woman, who later found shoes, a sock, a coat and phone by the river, had taken a life ring to the water but could not see Kaliyah.

Bargehouse Causeway is a concrete slope that goes directly into the River Thames and is used to transport boats.

Some residents pointed out that it appeared to be covered in moss and is slippery.

One woman, who said she tried to warn the children not to play there, saw the events unfold.

Speaking to BBC London, she said: “There were a few kids playing and going in the water a little bit. Five minutes later, the screams came and the girls ran for help.”

Another woman said her son had previously got into difficulty in the same area, in the sand around the causeway, when his ball rolled down towards the water.

“He went to get the ball in the water, not realising that when the tide goes out it’s like sinking sand and when he panicked he went deeper in,” said Nadine Taylor.

“My partner had to grab him and it was lucky he was there to get him out. He was traumatised from that – he’s never gone back near that water again.”

Ch Supt Dan Card from the Met, local policing commander for north-east London, said the force was committed to finding Kaliyah, and were using drone technology and boats as part of their “thorough search over a wide area”.

“Specialist officers are supporting Kaliyah’s family through this deeply upsetting time and our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.”

He added: “I’d like to thank the members of public, our first-responding officers, and colleagues from other emergency services, as they responded rapidly to carry out a large-scale search during a highly pressurised and distressing time.”

The force is appealing for witnesses.

The search on Monday involved boats and helicopters from HM Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and London Fire Brigade.