Teenage girl dies in River Tweed canoeing accident

Image source, Martin Dawes

Image caption, The incident happened on the River Tweed near Kelso on Monday afternoon

A 15-year-old girl has died in a canoeing accident on the River Tweed in the Borders.

Emergency services were called out to reports of an incident on the water near Kelso at about 15:30 on Monday.

The Borders Water Rescue Team and a helicopter joined police, fire and ambulance crews at the scene.

A body was recovered from the water shortly afterwards. Police Scotland said the girl's family had been informed.

Det Insp Alistair Sellar said: "We were called around 15:30 on Monday to a report of a canoeist getting into difficulty on the River Tweed, south of Rutherford, near Kelso.

"Emergency services attended and a rescue operation was launched.

"The body of a 15-year-old girl was recovered from the water a short time later. Her family are aware."

He said inquiries were ongoing to establish the full circumstances and a report would be sent to the procurator fiscal.