A 12-year-old girl who drowned in the River Irwell in Bury on Thursday night has been locally identified as a Somali refugee. 

Named by her relatives as Shukri Yahya Abdi, it is understood she moved to the UK with her mother a month ago. 

Officers from Greater Manchester Police were called to reports of a concern for the welfare of a young person last seen in the river close to Dunster Road at around 7.55pm.

Underwater search teams were called in and discovered the body of a young girl. 

Her uncle Mustaf Omar told the Manchester Evening News: “Everything about it is out of character, she can’t swim. Her mum is absolutely devastated. We are just in shock.”

Detective Inspector Andrew Naismith, of the force’s Bury district, said: “This is an incredibly tragic incident in which a young girl has lost her life, and my thoughts are with her family at this devastating time.

“We have a team of detectives working on this, but there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances at this time.

“With the warmer weather, it’s tempting to go into the water to cool off, but I’d like to remind everyone of the dangers of playing near or swimming in rivers, lakes and reservoirs and would strongly urge against this.”

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service watch manager Steve Wilcock said the girl had been with two friends.

He said: “When the crews arrived on the scene, there were two other children who had seen their friend disappear in the river.”

Wilcock said the river was more than 20ft deep in parts.

He added: “I would really emphasise to children not to play out in open waterways. We would also say to parents, know where your children are, know what they are doing.”

On the same day, two men died after being pulled from the water off a beach in Torquay, Devon and Cornwall Police said. 

The bodies of the pair, aged 25 and 26, were recovered from the sea close to Babbacombe Beach at about 2pm on Thursday by a lifeboat crew.

The victims were rushed to Torbay Hospital but were later pronounced dead.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the two men’s next of kin have been informed and requested anyone with any information to contact them.

They have not been named but are understood to be local to the area.