Alexia Walenkaki death: Five-year-old girl killed when tree trunk fell on top her had 'begged her mother for one last ride'

Alexia Walenkaki would have had her sixth birthday on Saturday

Five-year-old Alexia Walenkaki was killed by a falling tree in a playground in Mile End, east London (Evening Standard)

A five-year-old girl who was killed when a tree trunk being used as a rope swing fell on top of her had begged her mother for one last go on her favourite ride.

Alexia Walenkaki, who would have been six on Saturday, was crushed when the play equipment in a council-run playground in Mile End snapped and fell.

Police say Alexa went into cardiac arrest after the tree fell at around 5:30pm on Friday and died around an hour later.

Her mother, Vida Kwotuah from Poplar, said she believed Alexia would still be alive if the playground equipment had been checked properly.

She told BBC London News: “Looking at the log itself it is very rotten. Surely if the play equipment had been checked then that log would not have been there. And if it was there it would have been a much stronger one.”

She described the moment it happened: “She was so happy, playing and I was sitting there watching her the whole time.

“I saw the log falling so I ran over there but when I got there she was already on the floor.”

Ms Kwotuah said it has been “tough” without Alexia and she misses her: “Its been tough. You go into the bathroom, you see her toothbrush, her toothpaste, its hard. Its 3 o’clock, I would be picking up from school.

“Alexia was a little strong girl, she was likeable, everyone who met her fell in love with her. I want people to remember her for that.”

An investigation has been launched into the accident by London police and the Health and Safety Executive.

In a statement, Tower Hamlets Council said: "A joint investigation is being carried out into the circumstances of the incident by the police and the Health and Safety Executive and at this stage we cannot make any further comment.”