Hide-and-seek boy drowns after falling into canal

A schoolboy drowned in a canal after he slipped and fell during a game of hide-and-seek with his friends.

Shahidul Hasan, 15, lost his balance while climbing on a railing and fell into the Limehouse Cut in east London.

The teenager told his friends and his younger brother that he was "all right" when he dropped into the freezing water and that he would swim to the other side of the broad waterway but he got into difficulties.

A friend jumped in to try to save the grade A student but he could not stop Shahidul from drowning.

The teenager was taken to hospital where he died two hours after falling in at 6pm on January 11.

Shahidul's uncle Abdul Mukith said the family were "heartbroken". He said: "His father was in Bangladesh and had to fly back. His mother, younger sister and younger brother are all very distressed.

"Shahidul was known by everyone and loved by everyone."

Bodrul Hoque, head of year 10 at St Paul's Way Trust School in Bow, paid tribute to his classmate. Mr Hoque said: "He was a really pleasant boy, very humble and polite. He was a very mature young man with a lot of potential. He would have gone to university and pursued his dreams."

An inquest at Poplar was opened and adjourned to a later date. One thousand people attended Shahidul's funeral last week at East London Mosque.