There is no evidence two children jumped from Bournemouth Pier before sustaining fatal injuries in the water, Dorset Police has said. A police spokesperson issued the update at a press briefing at the beach following the deaths of a 12-year-old girl from Buckinghamshire and 17-year old boy from Southampton.
The two victims had suffered critical injuries in the incident which happened next to Bournemouth Pier in the middle of half term. A man in his 40s, who was 'on the water' at the time, was arrested on suspicion manslaughter.
Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell told the press conference there is "no suggestion of people jumping from the pier" and confirmed the victims did not know each other. While she said there was a limited amount of information she could give while the case is active, she acknowledged she wanted to avoid further speculation.
Read more: Two children dead, man arrested, after incident off beach in Dorset
ACC Farrell said: "It is 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 other 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."
A total of 10 people, including the two who lost their lives, were rescued from the sea as RNLI lifeguards rushed to save eight other children at risk of being swept away by a strong current. An 18 year old swimmer saw the 12-year-old girl floating in the sea and helped recover her to the beach where she was given CPR.
The body of the 17-year-old then washed up close to the shore as lifeguards and an ambulance crew attempted to save him. Both were airlifted to hospital where they were later pronounced dead.
Witnesses reported seeing no obvious injuries on the victims, reports DorsetLive, and officers have confirmed there was no contact between them and a watercraft. Dorset Police is continuing to question the man arrested for manslaughter.
ACC 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. "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," she said.
“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."
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