Fears drown pair ‘caught by riptide’
TWO youngsters died from drowning after possibly being caught in a riptide off Bournemouth beach, an inquest has heard.
Joe Abbess, 17, from Southampton, and Sunnah Khan, 12, from Buckinghamshire, were rescued on Wednesday, but both died in hospital.
In a hearing to open the inquest proceedings at Bournemouth town hall, Dorset coroner’s officer Nicola Muller said post-mortems by Home Office pathologist Basil Purdue showed the pair had drowned.
Ms Muller added: “The emergency services were contacted by the public saying swimmers had come into difficulty in the water, after a suggestion they had been caught in a riptide.”
Lessons
A man in his forties, who was on the water at the time, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, and was released under investigation on Thursday. The Dorset Belle sightseeing boat was impounded by police after the incident.
However Dorset police have said neither of the deceased nor anyone else pulled from the sea at the time was involved in any collision with a vessel.
Bournemouth MP Tobias Ellwood has expressed concern about a lack of clarity from police about the incident, which he said had led to “wild speculation on social media”. He told BBC Radio Four: “We do need to understand, learn lessons from this, provide clarity early on, just so people can have an assurance of mind as to what roughly happened.”
But David Sidwick, the Conservative police and crime commissioner for Dorset, defended the police’s handling of the “complex” case. Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Corrigan said: “We continue to keep an open mind around the circumstances that have led to the tragic deaths of two young people.”
Rachael Griffin, senior coroner for Dorset, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to Joe and Sunnah’s families, my thoughts are very much with them following this tragedy.
“My thoughts are also with those who attended or witnessed the traumatic events.”
She added: “I wish to remind all those who enter the sea or open water to be aware of the risks of swimming.
“It’s important they are aware of how to respond when problems arise and I urge people to follow guidance.”
Ms Griffin adjourned the hearing until a pre-inquest review on September 18. Neither of the families of the deceased were at the hearing.