16 July 2012
Last updated at 06:51 GMT
The girl went into the water at Bushmills Strand
A young girl who fell into the sea near Portballintrae, County Antrim has died.
She got into difficulty at Bushfoot Strand which runs eastwards from the village towards the Giants Causeway.
The coastguard assisted in recovering the girl from Runkerry Beach just after 14:00 BST on Sunday.
Ambulance personnel worked at the scene in an attempt to save the girl’s life, and she was then brought to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. She died on Sunday night.
John Bustard runs a surf school close to the beach.
He said his thoughts went out to the girl’s family.
“We’re all just devastated here because it’s just awful when these things happen,” he said.
“This is a dangerous beach.”
He had been surfing in the water a short time earlier.
“While I was out of the water getting changed, I heard sirens arriving at the golf club. It was a very quick response by all accounts by the emergency services.
“I came out to see if there was anything I could do, but unfortunately it seemed something had taken place further down the beach and quite a number of people were attending to the casualty there.”
He advised anyone visiting Portballintrae to bathe in the “little bay in the village”.
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