Boy jumped into River Thames in failed bid to save lots of schoolgirl, 9, earlier than she drowned, inquest hears

A boy jumped into the River Thames in a failed bid to save a nine-year-old schoolgirl before she drowned, an inquest has heard. 

The child, who was not named, launched himself into the water in Gravesend, Kent, on May 30 last year to try to save Luiza Paun, known as Bia.

He was joined by both the girl’s uncle, as well as a member of the public, George Karnovski, in entering the river to attempt to rescue the youngster. 

Mr Karnovski, 37, told the inquest in Maidstone she was ‘screaming’ as she struggled against the current, after falling in while playing on a jetty. 

‘At the same time as pulling him out, I was looking around like, “Where is she, where is she?”,’ he said, as reported by KentOnline. 

‘I am shouting, saying, “There is one more, there is one more”. I am looking around [but] for love nor money, I cannot see the little girl.’ 

Emergency services including HM Coastguard, the RNLI and the police descended on the scene to search for Luiza, with the mission continuing into the following day. 

But despite their best efforts, she tragically died, with her body pulled from the water at around 11.35am. 

The child, who was not named, launched himself into the water in Gravesend, Kent, on May 30 last year to try to save Luiza Paun (pictured), known as Bia

He was joined by both the girl’s uncle, as well as a member of the public, George Karnovski, in entering the river to attempt to rescue the youngster. Pictured: The jetty the girl is believed to have been playing on before her death 

Coroner Venessa Holt read evidence from a post-mortem report to the hearing at Oakwood House, which Luiza’s family did not attend. 

It recorded the child’s cause of death as drowning. 

Part of a police report read to the court heard CCTV captured the moment Luiza, from Gravesend, played with another child on Gravesend Promenade’s Royal Terrace Pier. 

Mr Karnovski’s sister, Samantha, told the inquest the pair were on a walk with their family when they spotted the young girl getting into trouble. 

The boy she was playing with, along with Mr Karnovski, both jumped into the water to try to save her. 

Mr Karnovski took around two minutes to push through the currents to reach the children, who were 20 metres away, while the youngsters’ relatives called 999. 

By the time he reached where he had seen Luiza and the other child, he could only see the boy floating on his back – and no sign of her. 

The RNLI arrived shortly after and rescued Mr Karnovski and the boy from the water.  

Ms Holt explained to the court: ‘On May 30 at 1.45pm, Luiza Paun fell into the river. The child she was with jumped in to try to help her as well as members of the public.’ 

‘The boy was rescued, and after an extensive search, Luiza Paun was found the next day in the water and pronounced dead.’ 

The coroner gave a conclusion of death by accident.  

Emergency services (pictured, at the scene) including HM Coastguard, the RNLI and the police descended on the scene to search for Luiza, with the mission continuing into the following day. But despite their best efforts, she tragically died

She added: ‘I want to offer my sincere condolences to the family.’ 

In the days after the tragedy, floral tributes and soft toys were left where the girl was believed to have entered the water. 

One message read, ‘Rest in peace, little one’, while another said: ‘May you find eternal peace in the arms of angels.’ 

Two others had written ‘rest in peace, lovely girl’ and ‘rest well, beautiful girl’. 

Heartbroken members of Luiza’s family, who are believed to be from Romania, have described her as a ‘beautiful angel’ who ‘had her whole life ahead of her’.  

There have since been calls for more safety measures on the riverbank to stop people from coming too close to the water’s edge. 

This includes more signage, in multiple languages, warning visitors to the area of the dangers.