The 12-year-old pupil drowned after swimming in Lake Triouzoune in central France when the pontoon she was standing on, along with several classmates, collapsed.

Life guards helped pull the pupils from the water but when they counted the number of pupils, they realized one was still missing.

A member of staff then returned to the water and pulled the girl’s body out, but she was not breathing and showed no signs of life.

Life guards and paramedics spent 20 minutes trying to resuscitate the school girl from Hull, northern England.

According to the website France 3 she eventually began breathing again and was taken to hospital in Limoges. But she died on Wednesday morning.

Her school headteacher Dave McCready, from Wolfreton school released a statement.

He said: “We are all deeply saddened by this tragic event and our thoughts and prayers are with the students and family at this time.”

The headteacher added that all pupils on the trip had been able to swim 50 metres unaided. He said the rest of the pupils were still in France and being cared for by school staff, but they would be brought home as soon as possible.

The school trip was organised by the company Activ4 whose managing director Steve Scott said the exact circumstances surrounding the death remain unclear.

The tragic incident is just the latest in a series of drownings in France this summer.

On the same day as the incident involving the British schoolgirl, an 11-year-old drowned at a leisure centre in a lake in the Eure-et-Loire department in central France.

France’s National Institute of Health Surveillance has issued warnings for the public to be vigilant as the hot summer weather means more people, especially children, are taking to lakes, rivers and seas to cool off.

The institute reported a sharp increase in the number of drownings this summer with 163 deaths between June 1st and July 19th alone.

Authorities say there are around five fatal incidents a day in France compared to the normal average of three.