Man arrested after Bournemouth beach incident released under investigation

A man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after two children died off Bournemouth beach has been released under investigation.

A boy, 17, from Southampton and a girl, 12, from Buckinghamshire, died after getting into difficulty in the water on Wednesday.

Another eight people were treated by paramedics.

The man, in his 40s, who was “on the water” at the time but not known to the youngsters, had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter but was later released under investigation, police said on Thursday.

It comes after reports suggested a sightseeing boat, the Dorset Belle, had been impounded at Poole Harbour by police.

A police source told The Times: “This vessel is under a police cordon. No-one is permitted on board or to touch the vessel.”

Speaking at a press conference earlier on Thursday, Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell said none of the swimmers had been in “physical contact” with a vessel and they had not jumped from the pier.

She added that speculation that jet-skis had been involved was also incorrect.

She said: “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.”

She said the two who died were not related to each other and those involved were “different people from different families” who were assisted by “great-spirited members of the public”.

She added: “We are all truly devastated that two young people have lost their lives.

“My thoughts and those of all the emergency services are very much with their loved ones at this horrendous time and we are doing all we can to support their families.”

Ms Farrell added: “As you can imagine, we are at the early stages of our investigation, and we would ask people not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident to both protect our inquiries and out of respect for the victims and their families.

“We are aware of a number of videos circulating on social media and we would urge people to refrain from doing this.

“We know the beach was very busy when the incident occurred. I am today urging anyone who saw what happened or has any information that may assist to please come forward.

“If anyone has relevant phone footage then they can contact Dorset Police through our major incident public portal where they can upload the images and we will share the links on social media.

“This operation is named Operation Marble. So please share the images with the police rather than on social media.”

She added: “I would sincerely like to thank members of the public who helped people in trouble in the water and also I am very grateful to wider beachgoers who really quickly moved from the beach to allow emergency workers do their work.”

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council leader Vikki Slade said the authority is working with the emergency services and will be assessing safety in the water near the pier.

“There are specific rules relating to the buoys in the water but there is no evidence that any of these rules have been breached,” she said.

Families arriving at the beach on Thursday spoke of their shock at the previous day’s events.

One woman, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s such a shame, people just come here to have fun, it’s a real tragedy.”

Mourners placed flowers on the beach close to the pier early on Thursday.

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