Bournemouth: Girl, 12, and boy, 17, die after incident off beach

[pellinore]

There were reports last night of a major incident with two fatalities and eight others injured, all young people. A 40 year old man has been arrested for manslaughter. Now the news is that they were not hit by a boat.

A 12-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy have died after being pulled from the sea off Bournemouth Pier.

Eight other people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries after emergency services were called at 16:32 BST on Wednesday.

A man in his 40s, who was on the water at the time, has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, Dorset Police said.

It is not clear how the pair, who died in hospital, sustained their injuries.

Bournemouth, which is full of people on half-term holidays, has been stunned by the tragedy.

Many people who saw the incident unfold say, despite the helicopter, ambulance and coastguard activity, they did not get a sense of the horror until the police statement was put out.

Bournemouth: Girl, 12, and boy, 17, die after incident off beach - BBC News

Bournemouth beach death victims were not hit by vessel - police - BBC News

[Still Waters]

A riptide may have led to the deaths of a girl and a teenage boy off Bournemouth beach, an inquest heard.

Joe Abbess, 17, from Southampton, and 12-year-old Sunnah Khan, from Buckinghamshire, both died in hospital after the incident on Wednesday.

An inquest opening at Dorset Coroner's Court heard there was a "suggestion" a riptide had led to the pair drowning.

Dorset Police said it was keeping an "open mind" about the circumstances that led to the deaths.

The force said it was considering causes including the impact of weather conditions and the state of the water.

It has dismissed speculation the pair had jumped from the pier.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-65807339

On 6/1/2023 at 11:33 AM, pellinore said:

A 40 year old man has been arrested for manslaughter.

A man in his 40s, who was "on the water" at the time, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. He has since been released while inquiries continue.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-65807339