Pleasure boat is impounded by police in Bournemouth beach tragedy
Pleasure boat is impounded by police in Bournemouth beach tragedy: Force place cruise vessel under guard in Poole Harbour after girl, 12, and boy, 17, die and man is arrested for manslaughter
A pleasure boat that was sailing nearby at the time of the Bournemouth beach tragedy where a 12-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy died has been impounded by police.
The cruise boat called the Dorset Belle, which usually sails from Bournemouth Pier, has been placed under the guard of Poole Harbour.
No one is currently allowed onboard or able to touch the vessel, which was guarded by a number of police officers this afternoon.
On the day of the horrendous incident, the Dorset Belle, had made numerous circuits around Bournemouth Pier and according to the online tracker MarineTraffic is was in the area where the tragedy unfolded on numerous occasions.
It follows police reports that the pair had not been hit by a jet ski and had not jumped off the pier.
A 12-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy have died after a major incident took place in the water on Bournemouth beach
The cruise boat called the Dorset Belle, which usually sails from Bournemouth Pier, has been placed under the guard of Poole Harbour by police
A bunch of flowers left on Bournemouth beach for a 17-year-old-boy and a girl aged 12 who died yesterday
A sign on Bournemouth Beach today, which was packed by holidaymakers and locals yesterday
A police source told The Times: ‘This vessel is under a police cordon. No one is permitted onboard or to touch the vessel.’
Two uniformed police officers were seen inspecting the tourist boat at 4.20pm, the paper reported.
Eight other children were hurt after getting into trouble in the water close to the beach and pier in Dorset packed with half-term holidaymakers and locals yesterday afternoon.
There was also no physical contact between the swimmers and any vessel, Dorset Police has said. A man in his 40s, who had been ‘on the water’ at the time of the incident, has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and remains in custody.
The Times reports that police are investigating the possibility that the deaths may have been caused by the wash of a vessel. A police spokesman declined to comment.
But Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, Conor Burns, said he understood that a ‘surface vessel’ was in the sea around Bournemouth Pier at the time the 12-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy got into difficulty.
He said: ‘It would seem not a far reach to draw a conclusion that while the vessel may not have physically touched the young people perhaps it created the conditions which made being in the water more dangerous by the speed it was going.’
Body is found after a man failed to return home from an open swimming session at a beauty spot
A body has been found after a man failed to return home from an open swimming session at a beauty spot.
Emergency services including Northumbria Police and Tyne and Wear Fire and
Rescue Service were called to Hetton Lyons Country Park in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, late last night, Wednesday, May 31.
After a search of the area the body of a man was recovered.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: ‘At around 11.30pm we received a report of concern for the welfare of a 55-year-old man, who had not returned home from an open water swimming session in Hetton Lyons Park.
‘Police attended the area, and assisted by colleagues from the National Police Air Service and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service carried out a full and thorough search of the area.
‘Sadly those searches led to the discovery of the body of a man. His family have since been notified and are currently being supported by specialist officers.’
Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell said officers are investigating the ‘circumstances or event’ that caused a number of people to get into difficulty in the water in Bournemouth on Wednesday. But ACC Farrell refused to reveal what she believed had caused the tragedy despite asking the public not to speculate.
She said: ‘Following our initial inquiries, a man aged in his 40s who was on the water at the time, has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
‘As we have a person in custody, you will know there is only limited information I can give about the investigation.
‘However, to avoid further speculation, I am able to tell you that it’s clear that yesterday a number of people already in the water got into difficulty and we are investigating the circumstances or event that caused that to happen.
‘Early investigation indicates that there was no physical contact between a vessel and any of the swimmers at the time of the incident. I can also confirm there is no suggestion of people jumping from the pier or jet-skis being involved.’
Councillor Vikki Slade, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, said what happened in Bournemouth on Wednesday must have been a ‘terrifying’ experience.
She said: ‘Again I want to add our sincere condolences to the families of the children who lost their lives, and our thoughts are with the families of the young people that were in the water.
‘It must have been a really terrifying experience for everybody.
‘The services worked incredibly well together. Our staff on the beach all rallied round to support the emergency services.’
She said there are additional staff available for the public on the beach on Thursday and over the weekend, adding: ‘The beach is busy. We are making sure that the RNLI are very visible and that our teams are available there to support people and make sure that they feel safe on the beach.’
She said Bournemouth ‘remains a really fantastic place to visit’, adding that the incident needs to be investigated properly.
‘And we are confident with our partners that any lessons that need to be learned in the future will will be learned,’ she said.
One of the men was pulled from the water and had to be given CPR on the beach by lifeguards before being taken away by air ambulance
Mackenzie Creech, 18, was with pals on the beach at the south coast holiday spot enjoying the sunshine when they heard shouts and screams from the pier.
He looked up and saw crowds pointing to someone in the water and rushed in with a pal to drag her onto the beach but sadly there was nothing they could do to save her.
The girl – who has not been named – died along with a 17-year-old boy in the incident which also left eight other children injured after it is believed they were dragged out to sea by a riptide after jumping from the pier.
Mackenzie 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 bad way.
‘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.
‘I put her down on the sand and by this time the emergency services had come over and they started doing 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.
‘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.’
Mackenzie, who is from Tilehurst near Reading and studying sport at college, added: ‘I don’t really know what happened. It was all a bit confusing.
‘People were saying they had been hit by a jet ski or a boat but there were definitely no injuries on the girl. There was no blood or cuts or anything like that.
‘What amazed me was the amount of people who were just filming everything on their phones when the emergency services were trying to do their work.
‘As I left a policeman took my details and said thanks for doing what I did but I just did what anyone would have done.’
Mackenzie’s father company director Robert Creech, told MailOnline: ‘He was very quick in his actions and was just trying to help.
‘When he told me about it, I could see he was upset and when we heard the poor girl had passed away, he was gutted.
‘It’s such a shame as all those involved are so young.
‘He had just gone down to the beach with his friends for half term and then this happened but I’m proud he did what he could to help. He’s a good lad.’
Earlier multiple witnesses said that people had been jumping from the pier. The sand close to the pier had to be cleared so two air ambulances could land, but sadly the two schoolchildren later died in hospital.
Witnesses described harrowing scenes as CPR was administered on the beach and some ‘idiots’ with phones were seen filming lifeguards trying to revive the two children.
Since 2004, Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency has dealt with more than 200 incidents of tombstoning, including pier jumping, leading to at least 70 injuries and 20 deaths.
Police today confirmed that no vessel is believed to have been in ‘physical contact’ with the children following speculation on social media they had been hit by a jet-ski or boat. But there have been claims that the tragedy may have been caused by the wash of a jet ski.
Mackenzie Creech, pictured with his father Robert, had found the girl unresponsive in the water
The town’s historic pier on Thursday morning as litter pickers removed rubbish
MailOnline has asked Dorset Police to comment. But one local surfer said he witnessed three jetskiers ‘buzzing the pier’ close to the line on Tuesday, the day before the tragic incident. There has been an ongoing issue between jetskiers and water users around the area of the pier.
Nicola Holton, who was at the beach with her husband, said: ‘One lifeguard went to rescue two swimmers struggling but he couldn’t bring them in. He spotted another person struggling and a second lifeguard went out to them but there were multiple people in trouble.
‘The remaining lifeguard was trying to get everyone out of the water. The ambulance service came to the struggling person rescued by the second lifeguard. More lifeguards arrived to rescue another swimmer near the pier. My husband spotted another swimmer struggling. He ran to the lifeguards. The guard immediately went in and they picked him up on a jet ski.
‘I will never ever get the image out of my head of him being brought out. They cleared the beach for the air ambulance. Then another was spotted and again brought to shore to be worked on. Absolutely horrible.
‘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.’
Paul Moyce, 61, said he believed those involved had been jumping into the sea off the pier.
He said: ‘I think they went off the end of the pier and went out too far. They must have got caught by the current. I lived here for 61 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.’
Nicola Holton, 43, and Stuart Clark, 42, were on the beach 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.
One tearful mourner laid roses on the sand this morning as Bournemouth mourned the loss of two children
‘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.’
The operation involved multiple teams from across the emergency services
The beach had to be cleared before the air ambulances were able to land
There are yellow marker buoys 200m off the beach and water craft operating inside that area are restricted to speeds of 6 knots.
One local surfer said he witnessed three jetskiers ‘buzzing the pier’ close to the line on Tuesday, the day before the tragic incident.
Lawrence Hopgood said: ‘I was surfing the night before There were 3 jetskiers buzzing the pier and getting close to the line. A lifeguard went out on a jetski and spoke to them, then left.
‘The jetskiers didn’t leave but proceeded to do donuts near the surfers, whilst filming themselves.’
Lifeguards on the busy beach had rushed into the water by Bournemouth Pier after a group of people got into difficulty in the sea at about 4.30pm on Wednesday. It is believed that all of those involved were aged between 12 and 18.
None of the other eight who were injured children were seriously harmed and they were treated at the scene by the ambulance service.
Emergency services were quickly at the scene and the teenage boy and girl were rushed to hospital after sustaining critical injuries.
Speaking last night, Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns said: ‘I express my deep condolences to the family and friends of the two young people who tragically lost their lives in Bournemouth.
‘A dreadful event in circumstances when they were enjoying beautiful weather in our town. So sad.’
The MP added that the incident was a ‘salutary lesson’ that ‘danger is ever present’ on beaches and the ocean.
He went on to thank the life guards and air ambulance members ‘who we can take for granted’.
Thousands of people were enjoying the sunny weather before being asked to leave the beach by police
Two people were taken to Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Poole Hospital
Eeman Qamar, from Southampton, was on the beach with her mother and three-month-old baby.
She told the BBC that just after 4pm lifeguards began to tell people to clear the beach, saying there had been a major incident.
‘After about 20 minutes, the first air ambulance arrived and landed right in the middle of the beach,’ she said.
Ms Qamar continued: ‘The lifeguards started getting on jet skis and boats, searching the sea and about 20 minutes later the second air ambulance arrived and it took another hour-and-a-half for them to finish the whole search and rescue operation.’
A Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called to East Beach, Bournemouth at 4.39pm to support a multi-agency incident.
‘We have crews in attendance from Westbourne and Springbourne, together with a technical rescue team from Poole.’
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: ‘We sent two air ambulances, six double-crewed land ambulances, one critical care car, two operations officers, one doctor, one hazardous area response team and one responding officer.’
HM Coastguard told MailOnline that ‘two people had been pulled from the water and passed into the care of the ambulance service’ and that ‘coastguards searched to make sure there were no other people missing and are satisfied there are not’.
Bus routes that would normally serve the Pier stops were diverted through the square.
Anyone with information about what happened should contact Dorset Police on www.dorset.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55230083818.
Alternatively, witnesses can contact independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.
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