Overview
- Durham Police received reports just before 2pm Saturday of a kayaker in difficulty on the River Tees at Barnard Castle.
- A coordinated search involved County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue, North East Ambulance Service, Great North Air Ambulance, the Coastguard, and Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue.
- The 20-year-old woman's body was recovered shortly after 4pm and her family have been informed and are receiving support from specialist officers.
- NEAS deployed two ambulance crews, a clinical team leader, a duty officer, and three Hazardous Area Response Team crews, requesting support from mountain rescue and the Great North Air Ambulance by road and air.
- On-scene reporting described multiple 999 vehicles and officers searching near Lartington Lane, and authorities have not released further details about the circumstances.