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Rescuers search for boy, 13, believed to have fallen from Tower Bridge

Panorama of famous Tower Bridge in the sunlight and River Thames in London at day. London, United Kingdom.
The boy is believed to have fallen from Tower Bridge on Tuesday (swns)

A child is missing after falling from London's famous Tower Bridge.

Fire crews worked "tirelessly" in the search for the boy, a Year 8 student at the Ark Globe Academy in Elephant and Castle, south London, who has not been seen since 8am on Tuesday.

A police helicopter and marine units were also involved in the search for the 13-year-old.

His school sent a letter to parents stating that he is being treated as a "missing person" by police.

While he is named in the letter, the boy's identity has been withheld.

No emergency services are currently at Tower Bridge, but a City of London spokesperson said enquiries are "ongoing".

A man named Youseff, who works in a coffee shop near Tower Bridge, said: "I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary on Tuesday.

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"There's always traffic on Tower Bridge, always sirens, always commotion.

"But yesterday I saw a helicopter out, and we had what looked like fire crews come in during the day. It looked like they were working tirelessly.

"I don't know when they knew the kid might have fallen off or jumped from Tower Bridge.

"I didn't know what it was about until today. It's really awful. I hope they find the kid for the family's sake.

"I can't imagine what his mum is going through. You see a few Samaritans signs on the bridge, but it's not like there's anything to stop anyone.

"Hopefully, it wasn't anything like that."

A security guard at nearby St Katherine's Dock said that they have not seen or heard anything other than what they had seen on the news.

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Hotel workers, who said they come in around 11am, also said they hadn't seen anything unusual.

Matt Jones, Executive Principal at Ark Globe Academy, said: "We can confirm that a student at Ark Globe Academy did not arrive to school on the morning Tuesday 20 April as expected.

"At this moment in time, there is a live police investigation in relation to the young person’s disappearance.

"The police are treating this case as a ‘missing persons’ incident.

"This is obviously distressing news for the young person’s family, friends, and the wider Ark Globe Community.

"As a school community, we are dealing with this sensitively so as not to compromise the integrity of the police investigation and we wish to respect the privacy of the family while the investigation is on-going.

"Our hopes and prayers are with the family at this very difficult time."

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