British girl, 9, dies in Turkish rafting accident

A British schoolgirl has died in a white-water rafting accident on holiday in Turkey, it emerged last night.

The nine-year-old, named locally as Cerys Potter, from Llancarfan in south Wales, died on Wednesday. She was rafting on Lake Koygeyiz, close to the Dalyan region in southern Turkey, when tragedy struck.

The Foreign Office confirmed last night that a British schoolgirl had died in a rafting accident in southern Turkey. Staff, pupils and parents at the small primary school in the village of Llancarfan, in the Vale of Glamorgan, were said to be "devastated" by the news.

Jill Davies, chair of school governors, said counselling services had already been set up to help those affected by the tragedy. "It is a small school. We are a very close-knit community and the whole school is completely devastated by this news," she said yesterday. It has touched the whole school and every pupil. Our sympathy is clearly with the family. We have already set up counselling services for children, parents or staff who need it.

"She was on holiday with her mother, Julie, but I know no more than that, other than she was white-water rafting. We know the family and we know the children. Although I am chairman of governors I am also a family friend."

She said that the schoolgirl has a 13-year-old brother, James. It is understood that the mother and brother were both on the holiday but that their father did not attend.

Turkish authorities are said to be investigating the accident.