A 20-year-old woman has died while kayaking on the river near an historic castle.
Durham Police recovered a body from the River Tees this afternoon following reports a kayaker had got into difficulty just before 2pm.
A major search operation was carried out in Barnard Castle involving multiple emergency services including the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, North East Ambulance Service, Great North Air Ambulance Service, The Coastguard and the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team.
The body of a woman was recovered just before 4pm.
Images from the scene show a row of emergency vehicles line up the road amidst the search.
In another photo, investigators in high-vis jackets can be seen scouring the river at night.
The North East Ambulance Service said: ‘We received a call at 1.50pm on Saturday, November 15 to reports of a person in water in the Lartington area of Barnard Castle.
‘We dispatched two ambulance crews, a clinical team leader, a duty officer, three crews from our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), and requested support from our colleagues at the the mountain rescue team and the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) who attended by road and air.’
Durham Police added: ‘Her family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.’
