A child has died after being pulled unresponsive from the water at Port Stephens on Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency crews were called to the Karuah River, Tanilba Road near Lemon Tree Passage, just before 2.30pm after reports that a four-year-old girl had fallen from a kayak.
Officers from Port Stephens-Hunter Police District raced to the scene at Mallabala Point and pulled the child from the water.
She was treated by bystanders and NSW Ambulance paramedics, who administered CPR, but could not be revived.
The girl was taken to John Hunter Hospital with a police escort.
Police said on Tuesday evening the young girl had died.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
"This was an incredibly distressing scene for bystanders, family members and first responders," NSW Ambulance Inspector Mark Gardiner said.
"We need to be alert to the extreme dangers of the ocean, it only takes a split second for anyone to get into serious trouble in the water."
