A six-year-old girl has drowned in a pedalo accident in Austria when the boat sank while she was on a trip with her parents and sister, aged 8.

The incident took place on the River Mur near the city of Graz on Friday, 3rd September.

According to the police, the girl was on the pedalo with her parents and older sister when the boat suddenly began to sink, likely due to a leak.

Local media report that the family was Afghan.

After being plunged into the 15-degree-centigrade (59F) waters, the mother, aged 30, and father, aged 35, were able to swim ashore, where they screamed for help.

Two passersby heard their cries and entered the river, where the eldest daughter was floating with her head under the water.

One of them was able to swim to the girl and bring her ashore, where the other – a 56-year-old woman – and the girl’s mother started to revive her.

The girl’s lips changed from blue to their normal colour and she started breathing again.

She was tended to by paramedics who were called to the scene and then taken by helicopter to hospital in Graz, where, at the time of reporting, she was said to be fighting for her life.

However, there was no sign of the younger daughter, and it was eventually up to divers from the fire brigade to pull her dead body from the water.

The police are investigating the case, but they have come under criticism from the female passerby, who said that the officers who arrived on the scene did not even take her name.

She also said that they failed to take the name of the other passerby, who saved the life of the eldest daughter by entering the river and pulling her ashore.

At the time of reporting, his identity still remained unknown.