A two-year-old girl has drowned in a river after her father accidentally let go of her when he went to rescue her drowning mother.

The incident took place at the Inacio River the north-eastern Brazilian municipality of Tururu on the morning of 25th April.

Emily Vitoria Tavares da Silva was declared missing the same afternoon before her dead body was found in the river by search teams the following morning.

According to the fire brigade, the family was enjoying a dip in the river with friends when the youngster’s mother got into difficulty and started to drown.

Her partner who was with their daughter went to her rescue, but, in the process, accidentally let go of their daughter, who was dragged away by the current.

The girl’s mother survived the incident. She and her partner have not been named.

The fire brigade was called to the scene, and firefighters searched the area for the missing girl. However, they had to call off the search a short while later, as it had got dark.

The search was resumed the following morning with the assistance of a team of divers that had travelled from the state capital, Fortaleza, just under two hours away by car.

Photos of the scene show how the stretch of river where the incident took place is wide and surrounded by vegetation.

Silva’s body was found floating in the water at around 10 am.

It is not clear if the police are investigating the incident, and details of the youngster’s burial have not been divulged.