An 11-year-old girl has died in a freak accident after falling from a float at the Rio Carnival.
Raquel Antunes da Silva bravely fought for her life for 36 hours at the Souza Aguiar Municipal Hospital, but she eventually succumbed to internal bleeding on Friday.
She had been in a critical condition in intensive care and even had one of her legs amputated after the accident at the famed carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The accident happened on the opening night of carnival, when little Raquel reportedly left her mum and climbed atop a float leaving the Sambadrome parade area.
But she is reported to have fallen and been left sandwiched between the float from the Em Cima da Hora samba school and a pole.
The Civil Police (Brazil's investigative police force) are currently studying CCTV footage of the incident as they investigate allegations of manslaughter and if the samba school breached safety regulations.
Em Cima da Hora, which translates as 'in the nick of time', and the LIGA RJ (carnival league) have expressed regret over young Raquel's untimely death.
However, they have come in for criticism after they apparently failed to respond to allegations of a lack of support for Raquel's grieving family.
The tragedy has left the family, not least of all mum Marcela Portelinha Antunes, who is three months pregnant bereft and devastated about their loss.
The Rio de Janeiro municipal authorities said they have provided basic food baskets, as well as social workers and psychologists.
The legendary Rio carnival kicked off this year on Wednesday and will bow out on Saturday after hundreds of decorated floats and performers have taken part. il.
The festivities are normally held before Lent, but they were postponed this year because of the ongoing Covid=-9 pandemic.
It is the first time the carnival is being held since the coronavirus pandemic.
The annual Mardi Gras celebrations in Rio de Janeiro are part of a world famous festival.
It is considered to be the biggest carnival in the world and is a time of joyous excess.
The streets of the city fill up with roving percussion bands and throngs of dancing, drinking revellers.
And the flats at the carnival are very competitive among those taking part in the festivities.
The Mirror told how British dancer Samantha Flores stole the show at the carnival in São Paulo kicked off in 2018.
Samantha Flores, who is originally from London, paraded down the Sambadrome Avenue for the first time as the principal muse for her samba school.
The Londoner was invited to take up the prestigious position for the group and the role placed her at the head of the procession in front of the first float - a position which has been reserved for Brazilian performers for all its 78-year history.
Wearing a huge headress and a bright green sparkling bodysuit and boots, Samantha looked incredible as she took centre stage.
