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| River Wear search at Fatfield: Two girls named | River Wear search at Fatfield: Two girls named |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Two teenage girls, whose bodies were found by police divers in the River Wear in Tyne and Wear, have been named. | Two teenage girls, whose bodies were found by police divers in the River Wear in Tyne and Wear, have been named. |
| Passers-by tried to rescue the pair who were discovered on Tuesday evening after getting into difficulty near a viaduct in Fatfield, Washington. | Passers-by tried to rescue the pair who were discovered on Tuesday evening after getting into difficulty near a viaduct in Fatfield, Washington. |
| They were named locally as Chloe Fowler and Toni-Beth Purvis. | They were named locally as Chloe Fowler and Toni-Beth Purvis. |
| A spokesman for Northumbria Police said inquiries would now be carried out into the circumstances surrounding the deaths. | A spokesman for Northumbria Police said inquiries would now be carried out into the circumstances surrounding the deaths. |
| Onlookers said they believed the girls jumped into the river for "fun" and to "keep cool" but this has not been confirmed by police. | |
| Northumbria Police said the river was still tidal at the point where the girls went missing just before 15:00 BST and there was a lot of debris and foliage in the water. | Northumbria Police said the river was still tidal at the point where the girls went missing just before 15:00 BST and there was a lot of debris and foliage in the water. |
| Supt Alan Veitch said: "One was an off-duty police officer going for a run who dived in and saved a boy who was trying to save one of the missing girls. | Supt Alan Veitch said: "One was an off-duty police officer going for a run who dived in and saved a boy who was trying to save one of the missing girls. |
| "Another gentleman dived in and swam the width of the river to get to one of the girls but he came up empty-handed. He was distraught, as you can imagine." | "Another gentleman dived in and swam the width of the river to get to one of the girls but he came up empty-handed. He was distraught, as you can imagine." |
| About 100 emergency services staff were involved in the search, which took about six hours. |