The mother of 12-year-old girl who drowned in the River Irwell in Bury has paid tribute to her 'amazing' daughter.
Zamzam Ture said she had no idea why Shukri Yahya Abdi was in the water in the first place.
Shukri's body was pulled from the water at around midnight on Thursday.
She is understood to have been with two other girls near Dunster Road, close to Bury town centre, when she ended up in the water.
Emergency services were called to the scene just before 8pm and launched a search for the missing child.
Tragically, Shukri - a pupil at Broad Oak Sports College - was discovered dead four hours later.
She moved to Bury around 12 months ago from Somalia with her mum and siblings.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Shukri’s devastated mother Zamzam described her as a 'quiet girl'.
She spoke of how her daughter loved to cook and how she would often watch Youtube demonstration videos before asking her mum to buy her the ingredients so she could try out recipes herself.
Sobbing and speaking through a interpreter she said: “She was amazing.
"She was a quiet girl. But she was optimistic.
"She did everything that was expected of her. Yesterday I wasn’t feeling well so she went down and made breakfast for all of us.
"That’s what she was like. She was always there for me and her brothers and sisters and it is them who will miss out and who will suffer now.”
Zamzam added it was baffling to them how her daughter ended up in the water saying she wasn’t a strong swimmer.“After class or mosque she would wait at he wall for her mum she would refuse lifts home.
“She would come and tell us someone had been smoking a cigarette. So 100 percent this is totally out of character. We cannot believe it.”
Shukri's friends and relatives visited the scene of her death on Friday morning.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News at the scene, Shukri's uncle Mustaf Omar said: "She was a sweet and innocent child, she helped her mum 24/7.
"She helped her brothers and sisters all the time. I found out through family.
"Everything about it is out of character, she can’t swim.
"Her mum is absolutely devastated. She came to the country as a refugee.
"She was everything a child should be. We are just in shock. She’s the oldest of five."
Det Insp Andrew Naismith, of GMP’s Bury district, earlier said: "This is an incredibly tragic incident in which a young girl has lost her life, and my thoughts are with her family at this devastating time.
"We have a team of detectives working on this, but there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances at this time.
"With the warmer weather, it’s tempting to go into the water to cool off, but I’d like to remind everyone of the dangers of playing near or swimming in rivers, lakes and reservoirs and would strongly urge against this."
Anyone with information should contact 0161 856 8172 quoting reference number 2154 of June 27 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
