A young woman who died in a kayaking disaster on the River Tees last month has been named as a Chinese university student.

Yik Ki Lee became trapped upside down in her kayak after it got wedged on branches in the Tees in Barnard Castle on November 15, an inquest heard.

Emergency crews launched a search just after 4pm after Yik got into difficulty in the river.

Tragically, the 20-year-old's body was pulled from the river just after 4pm.

Officers searching the area. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

An inquest was opened into the university student's death at Crook Coroners' Court on Wednesday (December 3), and heard Ms Lee's cause of death is still being determined.

Coroners' officer Kelly Taylor told the court: "I understand the circumstances to be that on November 15, Miss Lee was part of a g

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