Mother sees girl, 5, swept to death at beauty spot
A GIRL of five was swept to her death in front of her mother during a day out at the seaside yesterday.
They were playing in the sea at Durdle Door in Dorset when they got into difficulty at 11.30am.
A member of the public ran into the water and rescued the mother, but the little girl could not be saved.
A Ministry of Defence military safety boat, which happened to be in the area, responded to a mayday broadcast and recovered the girl from the water.
The child, from Salisbury in Wiltshire, was handed over to a lifeboat crew who tried to resuscitate her.
Police said the mother was with two children in the water by the beauty spot – a limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast.
The other child did not need to be rescued, but was also taken to hospital as a precaution.
Paramedics took the girl to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, where she was pronounced dead. Neither she nor her mother have been named.
Detective Inspector Steve May, of Dorcost set Police, said: ‘There is nothing to suggest this was anything other than a tragic accident. However, with the sudden death of any child we have an obligation to carry out an investigation to establish the full circumstances.
‘I am appealing to anyone who filmed or photographed the incident to get in touch as it may assist our investigation.’
A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: ‘Just before 11.30am we received multiple 999 calls reporting a child and a woman in distress in the water at Durdle Door.
‘We immediately issued a mayday relay broadcast to all vessels in the area. An MoD military range safety vessel responded and was almost immediately on scene.
‘The adult casualty was rescued by a member of the public and the child casualty was recovered from the water by the MoD vessel.’