Freak wave in shallow water may have caused death of girl ,8, in Cork beach tragedy

A freak wave in shallow water may have caused the tragic death of an eight-year-old girl on a Co Cork beach on Tuesday afternoon, local reports suggest.

The alarm was raised at around 4.40pm on Fountainstown Beach, near Crosshaven, Co Cork as families enjoyed the 25C weather.

It's understood a number of children were playing in or near shallow water on the popular beach when a larger wave struck and swept the girl out into deeper water.

A three-hour search took place and the girl's body was found at 7.45pm. The search involved the Coast Guard, RNLI, Fire Services, Customs, Mallow River Rescue and Garda Units from Crosshaven and Carrigaline Garda stations. 

PICTURED: Fountainstown Beach, near Crosshaven, Co Cork

The young girl's body was removed from the scene and taken to Cork University Hospital where a post mortem will take place.

CorkBeo reports that the girl's family are originally from Eastern Europe but that they have been living in locally in Crosshaven.

The girl was playing with a number of other young children when tragedy struck. At least three boys playing in the same area managed to get back out of the water following the freak wave, eye witnesses said.

Crosshaven Coast Guard recalled the harrowing search last night. A statement read: "Crews worked tirelessly after arriving on scene to find the missing child but unfortunately some time later a local person recovered her from the water after being washed ashore.

"She was transported by Irish Coast Guard jeep to our local station where she was later met by her family and transported to CUH for post-mortem."

They also appealed to people to call 112 or 999 if you see someone in trouble or think they may be in trouble on or near our coasts or inland waterways.