Mystery surrounds a major incident on an English beach that left two children dead on Wednesday afternoon.
The half-term tragedy saw a 17 year-old-boy from Southampton and a 12 year-girl from Buckinghamshire lose their lives after being pulled from the sea in Bournemouth. A man in his 40s, who was “on the water” at the time, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Eight other children were involved, it is not thought the group all knew each other.
Locals claimed the mystery incident involved a jet ski and several were on the water close by at the time, however, Dorset Police however confirmed there was no contact between a vessel and the children. There is a 200m ban on jet skis in place from the shore.
Unconfirmed reports say those involved in the incident had jumped off the pier - which is some 1,000ft (304m) long - and were pulled further out to sea by a riptide.
However, on Thursday Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell told a press conference said there is “no suggestion” of people jumping from Bournemouth pier or of jet skis being involved in the incident.
Footage posted online appeared to show CPR being given to at least one person after lifeguards rushed into the water at 4:30pm on Wednesday to the east of the pier in the seaside town.
Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell urged people not to speculate about what happened in Bournemouth on Wednesday, adding that people should send any images to police rather than sharing on social media.
Witnesses on the beach reported seeing the body of a young male wash up on the shore.
Lifeguards recovered a teenage girl from the sea next to the pier and were seen to give her CPR. She was taken off the beach and flown to hospital by air ambulance.
Thousands of people were on the beach at the time, soaking up the sun and playing in the water in the 23C heat during the May half term holiday.
Nicola Holton, 43, and Stuart Clark, 42, were with their two children when the tragedy unfolded.
They said the summertime scene turned into something from “a horror film.”
Mr Clark said: “As we walked to the east side of the pier there was at least one but probably a few jet skiers going across the right side of the pier.
“We didn’t take too much notice of them at the time.
“There were announcements throughout the afternoon telling people not to climb on the pier. After 2pm it seemed like people weren’t going near it.
“The next announcement we got was at 4pm about a dangerous riptide in the water and it wasn’t soon after that we saw a couple of swimmers in trouble out to sea.
“It got really chaotic when they brought a young man back to shore on a lifeguard jet ski. It was obvious he wasn’t alive. That’s when people started gathering around and the lifeguards were trying to clear the beach at the same time as helping the others in the water.
“We saw the young girl get brought out too and there were no obvious injuries on her either. I just wanted to get my family off the beach with our belongings.”
Miss Holton said: “It was like a scene from a horror film. After an afternoon of lovely weather and the odd announcement to tell kids to stop climbing on the pier it looked like it had all settled down.
“When we first spotted the swimmers in distress they were far out to the east side of the pier.
“A lifeguard ran into the water with a surfboard and it seemed to take ages for him to get to them. There was an announcement to get out of the water and then the lifeguards started bringing people back to shore.
“A few were taken to the lifeguard tent and then we saw the young man and girl brought out. We were packing up our things to leave as quickly as we could. It was just awful.
“There were loads of idiots ignoring lifeguard requests to get out of the water and clear the beach. People were running towards those having CPR filming on their phones.”
The first person to reach the girl who died was an 18-year-old boy.
His father, Rob Creech, said today: “My son was on the other side of the pier swimming with a few friends.
“All of a sudden there were a lot of people on the pier shouting and screaming that there was somebody in the water. He swam to the other side of the pier and he found a young girl floating face down in the water.
“The emergency services were just arriving at the beach so he was shouting to them and scooped her up to swim to shore. He managed to get her out onto the beach and the emergency services took it from there.”
Dorset Police said it received a report from paramedics at around 4.30pm on Wednesday afternoon of people requiring assistance on the beach off Bournemouth Pier.
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Steph Newman-Johnston was on Facetime to her sister who was on the beach when the incident unfolded.
She said: “As we were talking she said she saw a body along with other people being washed up.
“All I could hear was her screaming for the attention of someone to see the body and then a person was then seen running to the body and pulling it out.”
Mr Larcombe said he wasn’t sure if the youngsters had been jumping off the Victorian pier or were swimming under it at the time.
The sea conditions in Bournemouth when the incident happened appeared to be calm, with very little swell running. The water temperature was 15 degrees, meaning a wetsuit is required to swim comfortably.
The tides at Bournemouth see two highs and two lows in a 24-hour period. Like the rest of the UK, the tidal range is large, exposing large swathes of sand at low tide.
Low tide on 31 May was at 1:44pm and it was a 1m tide, while high tide was at 7:35pm and was 1.89m - making it a large tide.
This means the incident happened at mid-tide when the water would have been pushing shorewards.
Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Corrigan, of Dorset Police, said: “Our thoughts are with the loved ones of the young people who tragically died and we are doing all we can to support their families.
“I understand the beach was very busy at the time of the incident and I would ask anyone with information that may assist our enquiries to please come forward.
“We are at the early stages of our investigation and would ask people not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns said the incident was a “salutary lesson” that “danger is ever present” on beaches and the ocean.
“Thoughts with everyone associated with the dreadful events unfolding in Bournemouth this evening,” he said.
“A salutary lesson that our beaches and ocean can give much pleasure but danger is ever present.
“Thanks to the Life Guards and the Air Ambulance who we can take for granted.”
