1. 11-year-old girl killed in horrific accident on UK theme park ride, eerily similar to Dreamworld ride.

Girl who died at Drayton Manor theme park today attended a Muslim school in Leicester https://t.co/9ViZyt1GLt pic.twitter.com/uqwDrgiVw3

— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) May 9, 2017

An 11-year-old girl on a school trip to a UK theme park has died after she suffered fatal injuries on the family-owned Drayton Manor’s Splash Canyon ride.

According to The Mirror, emergency services rushed to the scene around 2:25pm local time after reports a child was in the water of the fast-paced rapids ride.

The girl, who lived in Leicester in central England, was on a school trip when she was injured. She was treated at the scene before being airlifted to hospital.

The girl – who has not been identified but is believed to have been a student at Jameah Girls’ Academy, an Islamic day school for girls in Years 3-11 – died from her injuries in hospital.

“Unfortunately, shortly after arrival at hospital the girl passed away,” an ambulance service spokesman said.

Drayton Manor said it had closed the Splash Canyon ride after the accident.

Witnesses reported hearing “crying” coming from the steps that lead to the ride’s entrance.

“The first I knew something was wrong when I saw staff running over to the ride and turn people away,” Graham Johnstone told The Mirror.

“All you could hear was crying coming from the steps leading to the ride entrance. It was awful. Somebody said a little child had drowned but you just don’t know.”

A woman also revealed she had just finished riding Splash Canyon when she heard about the accident.

“We were literally the last people off the ride before it happened,” mum Jenny Mason said.

“We were just collecting a photo and a lady came up and said a girl had fallen into the water. We thought it was all in hand and heard emergency services arrive.”

Others said the sound of sirens and arriving ambulances “scared” their children, and chose to leave the park when the commotion began.

While the details of the accident are yet to be revealed, images of the ride show it is eerily similar to the Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids ride, which killed four people in a tragic incident on October 25 last year.

Two women and two men died when their raft collided with another near a large conveyor belt at the end of the ride.

The director of Drayton Manor Theme Park, George Bryan, held back tears as he expressed his devastation over the death of the young girl.

“It is with great sadness we have to report that a young girl has passed away at Birmingham Children’s hospital following an incident on one of our park’s water rides this afternoon,” he told the media in a press conference.

“Our staff were alerted that an 11-year-old girl had entered the water. Trained park staff were immediately on the scene attending to the patient and West Midlands Air Ambulance arrived and air lifted her to the hospital.

“We are all shocked and devastated and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this tremendously difficult time.”

Tributes have begun to flow for the young girl on social media, with many who frequented the park shocked by the news.

“Imagine sending your child on a school trip to Drayton Manor for them to never return home. It’s all mad. RIP to the young girl,” one man wrote.

“My heart goes out to family of girl who died at Drayton Manor today. Life makes no sense sometimes, cherish every moment you have,” tweeted another.

2. Federal Budget brings price hike for millennial favourites avocados and bananas.

Budget 2017: Price hike revealed for avocados, bananas and tea tree: https://t.co/zC8LMgWBkW – Latest news headlines – Ninemsn News #Latest

— NewsUpdate24 Int. (@NewsUpdate24Int) May 9, 2017

Scott Morrison’s budget announcement brings bad new for millennials who enjoy a bit of smashed avo for Sunday brunch.

While first home buyers can now dip into their super to help gather a deposit for a home, a new levy on fruit could cause a price hike for the popular breakfast staple.

According to 9 News, the 0.1c levy was introduced on April 1, and was actually proposed by Avocados Australia to support biosecurity management and plant health for the industry.

READ MORE: BUDGET WINNERS AND LOSERS

The levy is intended to replace an existing one, already responsible for a price hike on our precious avos.

But there’s more: banana prices are also set to climb by half a cent per kilogram to help repay a $3 million grant given to the banana industry to help manage Panama disease.

Other products, like tea tree and seed cotton, will also be affected by price hikes.

3. Mum charged after baby boy found ‘seriously malnourished, emaciated’ in her NSW home.

Mum charged after police find allegedly neglected baby boy ‘seriously malnourished’https://t.co/QBHd87OEgA pic.twitter.com/vbwbqgzKfd

— 7News Yahoo7 (@Y7News) May 9, 2017

A 22-year-old woman from New South Wales has been arrested after a “seriously malnourished” baby boy was found at her Lavington home, 7 News reports.

The four-month-old baby was found on March 4 after police responded to a domestic violence report, and instead allegedly found the child in an emaciated condition.

Police officers were so concerned for the wellbeing of the boy – who was one of three children found living in the home – they immediately called paramedics for assistance.

The baby was rushed to Albury Base Hospital, allegedly suffering from serious malnourishment and neglect.

The baby boy, another 17-month-old boy and a girl, aged seven, are now in state care.

The woman has been charged with failing to provide for a child and causing danger of death. She has been granted conditional bail and is due to appear in court on May 15.

4. An Italian mayor is offering to pay people to move to his picturesque town.

Mayor of remote town in Liguria region of Italy is willing to pay people €2,000 to move there. https://t.co/VG26hdjcSO pic.twitter.com/GziUKZPKCs

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) May 7, 2017

A mayor of a remote village in Italy’s north is offering to pay 2000 euro (that’s AU$2961) to anyone willing to move to the town.

The Guardian reports that Daniele Galliano wants to bolster the population of Bromida, which is at risk of becoming a deserted ghost town as more young people move to the nation’s big cities to find work.

Just 394 people live in the town, located in the mountainous Liguria region in the country’s north-west.

The lump sum isn’t the only incentive on offer: new residents would also pay just AU$74 a month to rent a home in the village.

“We’re still working out the plan, but anyone is welcome to come and live here,” a local councillor, who did not want to be named, told The Guardian.

“We’re a small community but very welcoming. We’re high up in a mountain area but also not far from the sea – it’s a healthy lifestyle, the air is very clean.”

A manager at one of the town’s four restaurants, Oddone Giuseppe, added that while there is “nothing much to do” in the tiny town, “life is so simple and natural”.

“We have forests, goats, the church, and plenty of good food. Life would definitely be free of stress,” he said.

5. Adelaide father fined $1400 for keeping his 14-year-old son out of school.

Adelaide father fined $1400 for keeping son home from schoolhttps://t.co/svabrpvkDS pic.twitter.com/lzYC4ZXMD2

— 7News Yahoo7 (@Y7News) May 9, 2017

The successful prosecution of a South Australian man who kept his 14-year-old son from school so he could complete an apprenticeship in the family business is a warning to other parents, the state’s education minister says.

Susan Close says the prosecution of Radojko Knezevic, who has been fined $1400 in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to 10 charges, will send the message that “children simply need to attend school”.

It is illegal for children below the compulsory SA schooling age of 16 to undertake apprenticeships unless they are granted an exemption.

A conviction has not been recorded against 45-year-old Knezevic, as a magistrate deemed his motives were sound and he did not understand that an exception was needed to offer his son an apprenticeship, AAP reports.

His prosecution comes after a 57-year-old woman was fined and convicted last week for multiple counts of the same offence, the first conviction of its kind in 24 years.

Ms Close said SA’s education department tried to support and engage with families to improve children’s school attendance and only prosecuted as a final resort.

“What’s really important is that parents recognise that the best chance for their kids is to go to school, get an education, and therefore have a strong, successful adulthood,” she said.

The state government increased the maximum penalty a parent can face for their child’s failure to attend school from $500 to $5000 in the Education and Children’s Services Bill 2016.

6. Grisly discovery as a body is found in burning Adelaide home.

Firefighters who rushed to a burning house in Adelaide home have found a body inside. #9News pic.twitter.com/U7xkSn5WsN

— Nine News Adelaide (@9NewsAdel) May 9, 2017

Firefighters battling a house blaze in Adelaide’s south have made a grisly discovering after they found a body inside the home, AAP reports.

Police and emergency services rushed to the house on States Road in Morphett Vale at 9.45pm on Tuesday, and when firefighters entered the property they made their grim discovery.

Police will now prepare a report for the coroner.

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