Student says he desperately tried to save life of girl, 12, at Bournemouth beach

A student tried to rescue a 12-year-old girl who died during an incident on Bournemouth beach.

A 17-year-old boy and the 12-year-old girl died in the incident which happened at around 4pm on Wednesday.

The beach was packed with locals and tourists and eight other children were hurt during the trouble in the water.

Mackenzie Creech, 18, heard screams and shouts coming from the pier and spotted people pointing to a girl in the water.

He rushed over with a friend to drag her back to the beach but couldn’t save her.

Mackenzie, from Reading, told MailOnline: ‘Everything happened so quickly, one minute I was enjoying the beach with some friends and then the next we heard screaming and shouting.

‘We were on the other side of the pier but you could hear all this noise so we went over to see what was going on and people were pointing into the water.

‘I could see a body in the water, and just rushed in and scooped her up with someone else. She was face down when I got there and not moving.

‘She was in a swimming costume but she didn’t appear to have any injuries on her. There were no cuts or bruises and I just knew it didn’t look good so I carried her onto the beach.’

Once Mackenzie managed to rescue the girl parademics arrived and started to perform CPR on her.

‘People were screaming and shouting and it was all really chaotic and then someone put some towels up as a screen while the paramedics worked on her,’ he said. 

‘I was hoping she would make it and I didn’t know she had passed away until I saw it on the news. I was gutted when I heard that and it’s upset me, it’s so sad something like this happened. I did what anyone else would have done.’ 

A survivor, Lauren Tate, 18, spent some time in hospital and is recovering at home.

Her dad said: ‘We’ve seen all the stuff about boats and jet skis but it wasn’t like that. She was swimming in the sea with her friends when the rip tide took them out.

‘She was lucky to get pulled from the sea by the coastguard and one of her other friends was rescued by a paddleboarder.

‘I know the boy who died was at college with her, but I don’t know anything about him. All she told me is that they all met up on the train and headed to Bournemouth beach for the day.’

A friend of Lauren’s agreed with her dad and said no jet ski was involved in the incident.

Some people started to film the incident as it unfolded which Dr Rob Rosa, who was on the beach at the time, has criticised.

He said: ‘Those videoing the desperate CPR attempts should think long and hard at their actions. The tragic death of a child is not something anyone should voyeuristically observe.

‘I have been a doctor for 18 years, including in A&E where I have been battle hardened, but I have never seen anything as bad as this in my career. It was utterly exceptional and harrowing. They were carrying out CPR on two children while searching the water for others.

‘There were police, paramedics, doctors, the RNLI. They did everything they could for those children. It’s a terrible tragedy. The lifeguards were teenagers themselves and did an incredible job to try to save those children.’

A man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. He has been released under investigation.

Police confirmed no vessel was believed to be in ‘physical contact’ with the children.

A sightseeing boat, the Dorset Belle, has been impounded at Poole Harbour by police.

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