Probe after death of schoolgirl

The school was closed after the girl's death

An investigation has been launched after a six-year-old girl died following an incident at her school.

Wakefield Education Authority said it was investigating the death of the girl, a pupil at Redhill Infants School in Castleford, West Yorkshire.

She was taken to Pontefract General Infirmary but later died. It is thought she choked on her school dinner but this has not been confirmed.

Wakefield Council said: "Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time."

Spokesman Wayne Jenkins said: "Emergency services were involved and we will co-operate with any investigations that may take place."

It has come as a shock to everyone. No one knows what to do Schoolgirl friend

West Yorkshire Police said the coroner had been informed and a post-mortem examination would be carried out.

Speaking to the BBC outside the school, a friend of the girl said the youngster had choked on a sausage.

They said: "She was having her dinner and she choked on a sausage. She was rushed to hospital but they couldn't do anything for her.

"She was one of the loveliest girls you could ever know.

"She was really lively and she loved everything. It has come as a shock to everyone. No one knows what to do."

The school, in Queens Park Drive, Airedale, has about 150 pupils aged between three and seven years old.

Gates locked

The single-storey 1950s brick-built school is on a large site in the middle of a council estate on the east of the town. All the curtains facing out onto the road were drawn shut.

Staff leaving the school said nothing as they drove out of the school gates, which were then locked by a caretaker.

An Ofsted report carried out in November 2005 said the school was smaller than most other primary schools.

It said: "It serves a locality where there are high levels of unemployment."

The report added: "This is a good school. Children make a good start in the foundation stage and achieve well during their time in school."

"Pupils enjoy school very much and their parents are rightly proud of their achievements."