Canoeing 'safe' despite tragedy

The river water levels were higher than usual

Water safety experts have said the death of a young girl out canoeing on the river Wye should not prevent others from taking up the sport.

Nine-year-old Billie Clayton from West Yorkshire was with her father and twin brother when their canoe capsized at Glasbury, near Hay-on-Wye.

She was airlifted to hospital but died. The other two suffered hypothermia.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) said it was very rare for somebody to die while canoeing.

The Wales Canoeing Association supported that view, adding canoeing was "a very safe sport", and warned against "sensationalising" the tragedy.

Peter Cornall, Rospa's head of water and leisure safety, said between three and eight of the 400 people who drowned each year were canoeing deaths, out of between 850,000 and one million canoeing sessions carried out.

Part of canoeing is overcoming and working with nature and the environment Peter Cornall, Rospa

He said of Billie's death: "The situation here was one in a fairly wide, slow-moving river which was higher than usual but it was probably the cold as much as the river being hazardous.

"We're not fish, so if you spend any time under the water or in the water (it is dangerous).

"But I'm a canoeist, and I think the risks are worthwhile. There are a small number of accidents - some could have been possibly prevented.

"Part of canoeing is overcoming and working with nature and the environment.

"The health benefits and activity benefits far outweigh the risks."

He added: "People do need to take safety precautions - make sure you have got your own personal buoyancy aid.

Police are working with the local authority to investigate the death

"This time of year, making sure you have got clothing that keeps you warm or keeps you dry - wetsuits or drysuits or thermal gear.

"You have to make sure of the weather conditions, both the river levels or the tide if you're at sea and the weather, if it's going to rain or be cold or have strong winds."

Supt Dean Richards of Dyfed-Powys Police said: "It's an incident that doesn't happen regularly thankfully.

"There are companies that hire this equipment and that's an area we're looking at the moment."

He added the investigation into the death was likely to be "protracted".

All three family members had been wearing life-jackets. The canoeing accident happened at about 1600 BST on Wednesday, about an hour after they set off.

The group got into difficulty on the normally-calm river - which locals said had been swollen by recent rain - and their boat overturned.

Richard Harvey, chief executive of the Wales Canoeing Association, said: "I think that the incident is very regrettable, although we do not yet know the circumstances of what happened.

"It is very easy to sensationalise something like this when it happens, but canoeing is a very safe sport."