A six-year-old girl was killed when she fell into a waterfall while posing for pictures with her mother.

Tia Albadawy was with her parents on a day trip to the idyllic but deadly Song Preak Waterfall when the accident happened in Phang Nga province, southern, Thailand on Wednesday afternoon, July 26.

As Tia leaned against the steel railings on a narrow concrete footbridge above the water, she moved her position while striking a pose for the camera with her mum.

However, Tia slipped on the wet concrete surface and fell onto the rocks below. Other tourists scrambled to try and grab her but she was dragged away by the raging white-water currents.

Tia's devastated parents Ahmed, 33, and Aya, 31, both from Cairo, Egypt, watched as their daughter's lifeless body was pulled from the water by rescue teams.

The last family picture of them together shows Tia beaming as they rode an elephant at a nearby park.

Ahmed said: 'I cannot believe what has happened. She cannot be dead. Just a moment ago she was laughing. We tried to save her.'

Utan Siriphuwadon, chief of the Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary, said he dispatched staff upon receiving an emergency call at around 1 pm local time.

They were joined by a rescue crew, local police, and boat operators as they scoured the waters for the missing girl. However, the powerful current and rocky riverbed hampered the search.

The team later found the lifeless girl being swept against a piece of wood obstructing the stream. They removed the object as volunteers waited at the waterfall's lower level, ready to retrieve the child's body.

Graphic footage shows how the rapids washed the youngster's limp corpse downstream as rescuers dived into the water to catch her.

Her parents were overwhelmed with grief upon seeing their battered daughter being pulled from the water.

Her remains were taken to the Phang Nga Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Park manager Utan said: 'The young girl had been travelling with her parents and was following the tour schedule, which included a rowing activity and riding on an elephant. After that, the group visited the waterfall with their tour guide.

'They were taking photos on the waterfall, but the girl might have accidentally fallen through a gap while trying to adjust her position for a better camera angle.'

He added that the water was around 3ft deep, and that there was a concrete bridge with safety railings nearby.

Following the tragic incident, staff and tour guides have been ordered to be more vigilant, especially when assisting tourists with children, elderly people, or people with disabilities.

The area will also be closed off during heavy rain to ensure the safety of visitors, Utan said.

Tia's death is the latest in a long series of accidents at Thailand's notorious beauty spots, which have little in the way of safety precautions for visitors from abroad who are unfamiliar with the local terrain.

In this year on March 24, an Australian tourist was hurt in a fall at the Hin Lad waterfalls on Koh Samui island in Surat Thani province. While just weeks later, on April 5, female German tourist Sina Dahmann, 38, was also injured when he slipped and fell at the Na Muang 2 waterfall, also on Koh Samui.

In December last year, British backpacker Joshua Kohler, 20, from Norwich, suffered a fractured coccyx and head injuries when he ignored warning signs and hiked to the top of the 130ft high Na Muang 2 waterfall to 'get a better view' only to slip and fall down the rocks.

While in May 2022, Romanian holidaymaker Nane-Iosana Bodea, 23, was taking selfies at the top of the Na Muang waterfall when she slipped on the wet, mossy surface and plunged around 50ft down the rocks to her death.

In July 2019, David Rocamundi Conesa, 26, from Spain, died at the same Na Muang 2 waterfall while posing for a picture and slipping into the water.

In 2018, Jiri Barta, 32, from the Czech Republic, died at the Khun Sri waterfall on Koh Samui.

It was the same waterfall where Eastenders actor Paul Nicholls suffered life-threatening injuries in 2017 after falling and spending three days trapped on rocks.