Sledge girl dies after horror crash

The death of a 16-year-old English girl who crashed through a barbed wire fence on a makeshift metal sledge was described by police today as “tragic”.

Francesca Anobile was injured along with three other girls during the accident in Rother Valley Country Park in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, yesterday afternoon.

It is thought the sled they were on was made from part of a car roof.

The girls went through a fence containing barbed wire before hitting another fence, which stopped them from falling into a river.

Francesca, from Sheffield, was airlifted to the city’s Northern General Hospital with suspected serious head injuries where she died at 6pm yesterday.

Police named another of the victims as Nikki Burns, also 16 and from Sheffield, who is being treated at the city’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital.

The other girls – described by emergency services as “walking wounded” – were taken to Rotherham District General Hospital.

It is believed the girls were sledging at around 1pm in a field which had been fenced off to use for cattle grazing.

South Yorkshire Police said the crash was a “tragic sledging incident”.

Three emergency ambulances, two rapid response vehicles, an air ambulance and a clinical team leader all attended the scene.

The park is owned by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and is one of the biggest country parks in the area, developed on a 300-hectare site once used for opencast coal mining.

It is now a popular area for recreation and conservation.

Police are investigating what happened and liaising with park rangers and the Health and Safety Executive.

Officers later issued a warning about the dangers of playing on snow and ice.

“Police would like to highlight the importance of personal safety during this period of adverse weather and advise everyone to take extra care when playing out in the snow and ice,” the force said.