A girl has died after falling into water on a UK theme park ride bearing a eerie similarity to the one that last year killed four people at Dreamworld.

The 11-year-old, who was on a school trip, reportedly stood up on the Splash Canyon ride and toppled overboard at the family-owned Drayton Manor theme park in Staffordshire on Tuesday.

She was airlifted to hospital but died a short time later.

Four people were killed on Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids ride at the Gold Coast in October when their raft flipped and trapped them in a conveyor belt. 

The park was shut for 45 days as safety inspectors audited rides, while the Thunder River Rapids was permanently closed.

A spokesman for the UK’s Health and Safety Executive said it was “making initial inquiries along with emergency services”.

There is no suggestion a ride fault contributed to the girl’s death.

Drayton Manor said it has closed the Splash Canyon ride, which opened in 1993 and involves ride goers in round boats navigating rapids, much like Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids.

Drayton Manor’s company director George Bryan said everyone at the park was “truly shocked and devastated, and our thoughts are with the family and friends at this tremendously difficult time”.

The girl was a Year 6 pupil at Jameah Academy, an independent Islamic school.

The school said in a statement it was providing “support to pupils and staff” and asked for “time to grieve”. 

Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozbeh Araghi were killed alongside 42-year-old Cindy Low while riding the Thunder River Rapids ride last year.

Ms Low’s 10-year-old son and Ms Goodchild’s 12-year-old daughter were thrown from the boat in the accident and suffered only minor injuries.

Dreamworld’s parent company, Ardent Leisure last month announced that its CEO Deborah Thomas was stepping down to make way for former Nine Network chief financial officer Simon Kelly.

Ardent Leisure was hit with a $50 million loss in the wake of the rapids ride tragedy, which saw Dreamworld shut for 45 days in late 2016.

“The effects of this tragedy will be felt for some time and there is much healing still to take place,” Ms Thomas said in February.