COPS are probing the death of a 10-year-old girl who was killed in a mudslide tragedy while on a school trip.
Leah Harrison sadly died after being caught up in the disaster at around 1.15pm in Carlton-in-Cleveland, near Middlesbrough.
Dozens of emergency service workers spent hours battling to save Leah's life at the scene near Carlton Bank after a morning of persistent rain.
But North Yorkshire Police confirmed the Year 6 pupil had died yesterday evening while on a guided walk.
Leah, who was named as a student at Mount Pleasant Primary School in Darlington, was on a one-day school trip to Carlton Adventure after finishing her SATS exams before she was caught up in the mudslide.
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Now, it has been revealed that a joint investigation is being carried out by North Yorkshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive to establish what happened.
Heartfelt tributes have been paid by family, friends and staff to the "much-loved" schoolgirl.
Leah's devastated family said in a statement: "Leah Harrison, the happy, bubbly, go-lucky little girl.
"The beautiful smile, the giddy laugh, the silly jokes. You will never ever be forgotten baby girl.
"You will achieve you dream and become a player for the Lionesses.
"Spread those wings. May you rest in paradise."
A number of floral tributes have since been left at Mount Pleasant Primary School including a small teddy football with the writing 'Leah No1' on it.
Balloons have also been attached to the school sign.
Nick Blackburn, chief executive of the Lingfield Education Trust, said: "Leah was a much-loved part of our school and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and the school staff.
"We are all in a state of shock and we would ask that the privacy of the family and the school community is respected while we try to come to terms with what has happened."
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The education boss described the mudslide as a "freak event" and claimed the woodland walk was risk assessed by trained instructors.
Mr Blackburn said: “Yes, there were weather warnings.
“There was a mudslide so the weather has had an effect on what happened but the cause and effect bit of the incident is difficult to understand."
'FREAK EVENT'
He continued: “This has been a freak event. This isn’t a group of kids just walking off into the moors somewhere.
“The walk is risk assessed at the time. They are with trained instructors. They wouldn’t look out the window and say ‘let’s go out there’ if it’s torrential.
“It’s a designated route. It is a planned event and a risk assessed event. We don’t take our children knowingly into unsafe territory.
“Any school outdoor activity is risk assessed in advance of the event and dynamically on the day of the event.”
The chief executive added that pupils and staff at Mount Pleasant Primary School were "stunned, shocked and devastated" following the disaster.
“I’ve been meeting parents on the playground this morning. There are a lot of very upset families and children coming into school.
“We’re just trying to make sense of what’s happened. The activity that Leah was involved in was a walk on a normal path to a woodland area.
Spread those wings. May you rest in paradise."
Leah Harrison's family
“They were on their way back from the woods having made shelters when the mudslide happened.
“What’s important for us as a trust is sharing condolences with the family, looking after school staff who were on the trip and pupils and the wider school community.”
No one else was injured in the incident as cops cordoned off the area, which sits on the edge of the North York Moors.
Leah's family are currently being supported by specially-trained officers.
Cops urged the public to respect their privacy and give them time and space to grieve.
Hartlepool Council, the site operators of the guided walk, have confirmed that activities had been suspended after the mudslide tragedy.
Denise McGuckin, Managing Director of Hartlepool Borough Council, which operates Carlton Adventure, confirmed that Leah had been on an instructor-led walk at the time of the incident.
'DEVASTATING SITUATION'
Ms McGuckin said: "We can confirm that a tragic incident occurred during one of the Centre's instructor-led outdoor education forest walks near to Carlton-in-Cleveland yesterday.
"We are utterly devastated and heartbroken and our thoughts are with Leah's family and friends and all those affected.
"We are working closely with our partner agencies to carry out a full investigation and we are temporarily suspending all outdoor activities and residential breaks managed by the Council.
"Whilst the investigation is being carried out it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."
Gary Clarke, callout officer for Cleveland Mountain Rescue, said conditions were "very poor" and it "made conditions very hardgoing for the rescue".
Residents of Carlton-in-Cleveland have spoken of their devastation following Leah's tragic death.
It is understood the disaster took place close to Carlton Bank, which is a steep hill, the summit of which is on Wainwright's Coast to Coast and Cleveland Way walking routes.
One shocked local, who lives close to where the mudslide happened, said: "It's a devastating situation.
"We saw a tremendous amount of emergency vehicles with blue lights flying past the house.
"It was around 1pm when they came and 5pm when they left.
"It was pouring with rain yesterday, which would have made the area sloppy and the rescue quite difficult."
ADVENTURE TRAGEDY
One neighbour added: "It is very rare that someone gets hurt while walking along there.
"It would have happened on the side of the mountain near where we live. It's very steep.
"It's a difficult route because there are a lot of old mines there.
"There were a lot of private cars as they always call in volunteers to help on these rescues. It's very sad."
North Yorkshire Police said: "We can confirm that one person has sadly died as a result of the incident.
"Our thoughts are with their family and friends during this difficult time."
The team also deployed two Team Rescue Land Rovers.
A Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team spokesperson said that nineteen Cleveland MRT members were deployed immediately, eventually rising to 30 during the course of the afternoon.
The area was covered by a Met Office yellow weather warning which saw a month's worth of rain fall in 12 hours on Wednesday.
