'Beautiful Elianne was the light of our lives... our hearts are broken by her senseless death'

TRIBUTES TO SCHOOLGIRL STABBED ON STREET

- Cyril Dixon

GRIEVING relatives of schoolgirl Elianne Andam paid tribute to the "light of our lives" yesterday as detectives continued to investigate her "senseless" murder.

They described the 15-year-old stabbed to death on her way to lessons as "bright and funny" with ambitions to be a lawyer.

Elianne died after a male youth plunged a foot-long blade into her neck as she travelled by bus to £19,000-a-year girl's private school Old Palace of John Whitgift.

Horrified witnesses said her attacker lashed out at a bus stop in Croydon, South London, on Wednesday after his offer of flowers to another girl was rejected.

Elianne died despite desperate attempts to resuscitate her by the bus driver and a passer-by.

Her family, who gathered for a vigil at the scene last night, said: "Our hearts are broken by the senseless death of our daughter.

"Elianne was the light of our lives. She was bright and funny, with many friends who adored her.

"She was only 15 and had her whole life ahead of her, with hopes and dreams for the future. All those dreams have now been shattered. Our lives have fallen apart, along with that of our wider family."

Members of Elianne's family and friends embraced as flowers were placed on the ground next to the bus stop inside a police cordon.

Earlier, it emerged her mother had saved up from her job as an NHS nurse to pay for her education at the elite school just a mile from the murder scene.