Trekking tragedy of girl, 11, who plunged down a mountain ravine

Hours later, she was dead.

Gemma plunged down a rock face while playing with her eight-year-old sister Laura as their parents prepared a picnic lunch, an inquest was told.

Rob and Lindsey King heard Laura scream as Gemma tumbled over the edge and slid head-first down the steep slope before hitting her head on boulders below.

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She suffered a severe fracture to the skull and internal bleeding, which caused a heart attack.

An air ambulance was called but she was dead on arrival at hospital.

The tragic incident, in June, was described to Bradford coroner Roger Whittaker.

He heard how the family, from Ilkley, were trekking through the Picos de Europa mountains - described as a 'walker's paradise and most beautiful place' - in northern Spain.

At the time Mr King, 45, a project manager, said: "It was the most wonderful natural scenery, wildlife and traditional rural life - this was a perfect setting for a family experience.

"Our last night together was spent in a tiny isolated mountain village. Our girls were delightful together, confidently scrambling up the steep bits, spotting chamois, lizards and snails.

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"Gemma and Laura quickly chose a spot beneath a rock to build a fairy house of moss and grasses.

"It all happened so quickly - we can only think she might have been distracted. She fell and we cannot understand what happened. She was doing nothing she would not do on Ilkley Moor."

Recording a misadventure verdict, Mr Whittaker said: "Gemma had suffered a tremendous head injury and even if help had been instantly on hand I severely doubt anything could have been done for her.

"The word "accident" is too casual a word to use in this terrible event and I offer my tremendous sympathy in something that is almost impossible to overcome."

In a joint statement after the hearing Mr King and his wife, a solicitor, said: "We have brought our two daughters up to enjoy exploring the outdoors and to be curious about all that it offers.

"We have shown them how to take care and understand the dangers and risks of what they do. Gemma was a sensible child, not one to take risks. We had confidence that she was exploring safely.

"However, somehow she must have crawled too close to the edge without realising.

"Gemma's death does not alter our conviction that children should have plenty of opportunity for outdoor exploration. Despite all her exposure to wild country and outdoor pursuits, her next worse accident was just falling in nettles.

"Four months after her death, our grief is still as raw. We have to live with the awful truth that we did not realise the danger she was in and so failed to alert her."