She (Rochelle) said: 'I didn't want to go in the water. I'm very scared and I'm very light. I might drown.'

Pupil statement

The jury heard a statement from three other children who took part in the walk including one 13-year-old girl who described how Rochelle was waving as she was washed away.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said in her statement how she and Rochelle had not wanted to take part in the walk but had been reassured by one of the teachers, Liz Schofield.

She said: "She (Rochelle) said: 'I didn't want to go in the water. I'm very scared and I'm very light. I might drown.'

"I said 'no you won't'.

Curtain of water

"She (Rochelle) said 'hold my hand if I fall, won't you'."

The girl then described how the party walked into a "curtain of water".

She said she told Miss Schofield she "couldn't do this" but the teacher encouraged her to go on.

The teenager then said she fell but managed to get up.

She kept dropping down in all the rapids

Pupil statement

She added: "Then (a girl) said 'look at Rochelle'. I looked and she was, like, turning.

"It looked really funny. But it wasn't funny.

"I don't know what she was trying to say - help, come here, bye bye, hello.

"They said Hannah had gone as well and I was so shocked. I didn't see Hannah at all."

Head in hands

The inquest was also read statements from two boys who were also on the walk and who saw the girls washed downstream.

One of the 13-year-olds said: "Then Rochelle went and fell down again and then she went down the river - her feet facing us.

"She kept dropping down in all the rapids and stuff and hit some of the rocks.

"She was laughing for the first part and then when she got round the corner she looked a bit scared."

In another statement, a second 13-year-old boy described how the second teacher on the trip, Andy Miller, jumped out of the river and ran after Rochelle.

The boy said he saw Mr Miller get back in the water and try and rescue the girl.

As the statements were read to the packed court many members of both the Black and Cauvet families were in tears.

Mr and Mrs Cauvet held their heads in their hands while trying to follow the interviews on documents in front of them.

But at one point it became too much and they left through a back door.

The inquest continues.