Man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after boy, 17, and girl, 12, die in major incident at Bournemouth beach

A man has been arrested after a 17-year-old-boy and a 12-year-old girl died following an incident at Bournemouth beach.

Dorset Police have confirmed a man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

The force say they received a report from paramedics at around 4.30pm on Wednesday afternoon of people requiring assistance on the beach off Bournemouth Pier.

The 17-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl, who sustained 'critical injuries', later died in hospital.

10 people were recovered from the water.

The man in his 40s, who was in the water at the time, has since been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

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.

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“We are at the early stages of our investigation and would ask people not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Eeman Qamar, from Southampton, was on the beach with her mother and three-month-old baby at the time of the incident and told the BBC that just after 4pm, lifeguards told people to clear the beach due to an incident.

"After about 20 minutes, the first air ambulance arrived and landed right in the middle of the beach," she said.

"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."

Beachgoer Ritta Saruchera said her daughter and her friend were in the sea at the time: "They were coming back out of the water when they saw a teenage boy struggling. There was another one floating in the water.

"We went to get help from the lifeguard and inform them of what was happening. There were three young men out there and they have been searching for a fourth."

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She added: "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 and dragged across parallel to the beach. He ran to the lifeguards. The guard immediately went in and they picked him up on a jet ski.

"They cleared the beach for 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."