Elsie Dot Stancombe was killed in the Southport knife attack that sparked a week of far-right riots in the UK in late July.
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A final farewell. Hundreds of people gathered on Friday, August 23, for the funeral of Elsie Dot Stancombe, a seven-year-old girl killed in the Southport knife attack in northwest England that sparked a week of far-right riots in the country in late July. A spotless carriage pulled by two white horses carried the girl’s small coffin to St John’s Church in Birkdale, near the coastal town of Southport.
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Covered in pastel fabric and topped with a stuffed animal of the little girl, it was carried to the entrance on a pink carpet, surrounded by many locals who had come to pay their respects to Elsie. At the request of the family, their loved ones wore pastel or floral outfits for the ceremony. Friends from Elsie’s cheerleading squad also stood outside the church in their uniforms, wiping away tears as the coffin passed under an arch of balloons.
“Elsie spent every day simply enjoying life with determination, perseverance, love and kindness”the family said in a statement released before the funeral. The girl was killed along with Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, and Bebe King, 6, in the attack on a dance class in Southport on July 29, also injuring 10 people, including eight children.
At the ceremony in the packed church, teacher Katie Sykes said Elsie had the power “to light up any room she entered”Nearly three weeks after the attack, which sparked far-right riots in dozens of cities across England and Northern Ireland, King Charles III visited Southport on Tuesday to meet survivors and their families. He then met the three bereaved families in London on Wednesday.
