Bournemouth beach incident: What happened?
TWO youngsters have died following an incident off Bournemouth beach on May 31.
There are still many unanswered questions as to what happened on that fateful day as investigations continue.
What do we know about the incident?
A 17-year-old boy from Southampton and a 12-year-old girl from Buckinghamshire were taken to hospital following the incident and later sadly passed away.
A man in his 40’s was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Dorset Police stated the man was seen near the water where the tragedy occurred but announced on Thursday June 1 that he has since been released under investigation.
“We are continuing with our investigation, which is still at the early stages, and would ask people not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident to both protect our inquiries and out of respect for the victims’ families,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Corrigan.
Including the two deaths, another eight people were treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries.
A sight-seeing cruise boat, The Dorset Belle, has been impounded with officers spotted on board guarding the vessel and making searches.
Officers, however, have dismissed suggestions it may be involved in the death and injuries of the swimmers.
The Dorset police force recently stated that an “early investigation indicates that there was no physical contact between a vessel and any swimmers at the time of the incident”.
Despite the initial boat’s dismissal of involvement, a police source told The Times: “This vessel is under a police cordon. No one is permitted on board or to touch the vessel.”
Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell said: “I would sincerely like to thank members of the public who helped people in trouble in the water.
“I’m also very grateful to the wider beach-goers who really quickly moved from the beach and allowed emergency services to do their work”.
What have eyewitnesses said?
Tom Saunders, a surfer present at the time, described hearing sirens going off.
He said authorities then made “an announcement, and then the beach got cleared either side”.
He added: “So obviously, I knew something had gone on. We heard the helicopters coming so knew it was serious.
“They said there were two people missing at the time and then after about a half hour they said everyone was accounted for”.
Howard Cohen, a holidaymaker from London, was also a witness of the day and said he saw “a lot of commotion going on, there was a lot of ambulances, police and people rushing to the beach”.
He continued: “It was awful, people were clearing the beach. At the time there was a lot of panic going on”.
Is Bournemouth beach safe to swim?
Bournemouth is a popular beach destination which has been labelled safe to swim.
However, as with most beaches, sea changes and tides are known to strike anytime reducing a person’s safety.
A formal review into Bournemouth beaches safety has been called for by Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, Tobias Ellwood.
Speaking to PA news agency, Ellwood stressed the importance of checking to see “whether any safety measures and protocols need to be upgraded to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future”.
He added: “I encourage Dorset Police to clarify the general circumstances of this tragic accident to avoid further wild speculation and uncertainty for parents who may be cautious about going to any part of the beach, unclear of exactly what happened in this terrible incident.”