Bournemouth beach deaths: Police presence at cruiser

Police investigating the deaths of two children pulled from the sea in Bournemouth are at the quayside of a boat that was in the vicinity when 999 calls started coming in.

A 12-year-old girl and a boy, 17, died after an incident involving a total of 10 swimmers on Wednesday.

Pleasure cruiser Dorset Belle is at anchor at Cobb's Quay in Poole Harbour, with a police van nearby.

Dorset Police said it was unable to comment.

According to the Marine Traffic website, Dorset Belle visited Bournemouth Pier, where the incident happened, at 16:00 BST.

The boat offers regular cruises around Bournemouth and the Dorset Coast leaving from the pier.

The BBC has tried to contact the owners of Dorset Belle.

The vessel's website states that it was purpose-built as a passenger boat to operate locally and could "cope with the occasional challenging swell conditions encountered at local piers".

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council's website says all passenger-carrying boats must be issued with a licence to operate in the area.

It also states from April to October, yellow marker buoys are set out 200m (656ft) from the low water mark to indicate that vessels must not "go beyond six knots, annoy or endanger other beach users or run ashore or launch from the beach".

Vikki Slade, leader of BCP Council, said: "There is no evidence to suggest any of those rules have been breached.

"We are confident with our partners that any lessons that need to be learned in the future will be learned."

Tobias Ellwood, Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, urged Dorset Police to provide a "qualified statement" on the circumstances surrounding the incident, which resulted in the deaths of the girl from Buckinghamshire and boy from Southampton.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, he said: "Police must be given the space to do their investigation, but ultimately we do need to alleviate fears and remove the rife speculation that pours out because of social media, we have eight miles of beach and families want to know is it safe."

Dorset Police has declined to comment on any investigation into the Dorset Belle.

The force said it was working with the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch and Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

It comes after Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell stressed investigations were still in the early stages and the force was only releasing certain details to address speculation. The exact circumstances of what happened remain unclear.

An earlier police statement confirmed there was no physical contact with a jet ski or boat and no-one jumped from the pier during the incident. A man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter has been released while inquiries continue.

The council leader previously told members of the press making sure the beach was safe would be a "top priority" for the authority.

She confirmed she would be meeting with MP Conor Burns to discuss pier safety on Friday.

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