A 15-year-old boy slipped and drowned after a children’s game ended in tragedy last week.

Shahidul Hasan was playing hide and seek with two school friends along Limehouse Cut, according to his family, when he fell into the water along the canal near Thomas Road.

His uncle Abdul Mukith said: “He was climbing on the railing along the water and must have slipped. He was a good swimmer and told his friends he would swim to the other side rather than try to climb back onto the railings.

“We think he may have hurt his leg, a post-mortem accepted that he drowned but they are still checking if any of his organs failed beforehand.

“The water was only reaching his chest but when he got into the middle he realised the water was getting much deeper and he began to struggle.”

Mr Mukith said one of his friends jumped in to try and help him but had to give up when he also realised how deep the water was. Shahidul then went under the water, according to Mr Mukith.

Hasan’s father, Mohammed Abdul, said eye witnesses had told them it took too long for emergency services to arrive and pool Shahidul out of the water.

The police and fire brigade are disputing this saying they got their in less than six minutes. Tributes have been pouring in for Shahidul and his family said they now realised how “popular” he was.

Around 250 students and teachers at St Paul’s Way School held a special prayer for the year-10 student, who had hoped for a career in IT, last Friday.

Head of Year-10, Bodrul Hoque said: “He was a really pleasant boy, very humble and polite. He was a very mature young man with a lot of potential. He was a grade A student, very hard-working, and would have gone on to university and pursued his dreams.”

An inquest into the death proved inconclusive, according to Poplar coroners, and an inquest has been opened and been adjourned.

Hundreds of people attended a

Hundreds attended a funeral service for Shahidul at East London Mosque on Wednesday before he was laid to rest at Gardens of peace in Hainault, Essex.