Bournemouth incident

[coxesorangepippin]

Not sure what on earth has happened??

Awful news 💐

It has to be more than encouragement to jump off the pier. Surely you can’t be arrested for man slaughter for being an idiot. Also it definitely said the a man who was ‘on’ the water was arrested. Not ‘in’ the water. So unless he was Jesus or David Blain he must have been on some sort of vessel

@watermeloncougar people most certainly need to learn some etiquette and manors when it comes to phone use.

It won't be the first time people have learned of the deaths of family in car accidents from social media.

I mean how sick do you need to be to film a car accident as you pass it.

It’s at the stage where a lot of ‘parents’ don’t parent and expect teachers to do it, or the internet!

I wondered what had happened and knew MN would have an inkling what had happened.

I have the very up most respect for open water and have right from an early installed that same respect of open water to my boy.

I hope no one was recording the resuscitation attempts and sharing it on social media. Last summer we were at a beach and someone slipped on rocks and banged their head badly and paramedics were on the scene and a helicopter arrived. I was disgusted at all the swarms of people clambering around to get their phones out to take videos and photos of the person being treated. Society really is messed up these days doing this such recording of accident scenes.

I was thinking about the fact that an 17yo boy and 12yo girl are unlikely to be hanging out as friends. I wonder if they are siblings? I wonder if the 40yo arrested was their father?

I personally think included into pshe education and puberty talks kids should be warned about their ability to process and assess risks being impaired by hormones

Some very tragic preventable circumstances this week 😢

Police have just said they weren’t hit by a boat/ jet ski ( Bournemouth Echo).

I agree @dancinginthesky . My brother used to jump off about this pier about 30 years ago, and it was nothing to do with not having been educated about the dangers and everything to do with being a thrill seeking little idiot

Piers are very often built on natural rocky outcrops which go partway to form natural bays.

These are absolutely treacherous! Sharp, pointed rocks below the surface of the water, frequently masked by seaweed, and the cause of swirling currents and riptides - very dangerous even to gently get out of a boat onto, let alone leap from a height , which plunges you well down into the water. Even without rocks, there are often kelp fields in which a swimmer/ diver can get tangled.

In a high wind anyone or anything in the water can easily be picked up by the waves and smashed into the rocks or the pier itself.

My heart goes out to their loved ones. And to the lifeguards who did their best for them. They will be traumatised today.

Bbc news is saying the same.
The person they have charged was in the water so that rules out them being pushed.

As well as the two who died there are another 10 who got into difficulties and needed help.

@Sugarfree23 perhaps someone using a motor boat or jet ski in such a way as to endanger others without actually hitting them. The wake from those sorts of vehicles is really strong. I can imagine if someone was recklessly or possibly deliberately driving around people they could reasonably be charged with manslaughter

DS got taken by a riptide one holiday, he was 15 at the time, one second he was by DH’s side, then he was gone, swept away, fortunately having had 2 years worth lifeguard lessons he knew how to navigate the riptide, those moments of the life guards waiting to spot him in a choppy sea, having cleared the beach still give me the chills. Without the life guard lessons I don’t think he would have made it. Those poor kids and families.

@Effingmagicfairy what did he do to navigate it?

If it turns out it was what I suggested, I damn well hope radical action is taken. Speed boats and jet skis are an absolute menace around beaches, and often driven by idiots. There should be properly controlled completely separate areas for them, well away from everyone else.

This is what you do:

https://lifesaving.com.au/safety-info/rip-currents#

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/01/boy-girl-died-bournemouth-not-hit-vessel-police-say

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bournemouth-beach-incident-children-incident-b2349423.html

It's interesting that the police haven't said 'no vessel was involved,' but just that no physical contact was made. And the man under investigation was 'on the water' at the time. Riding a powerful vessel close to people in the water could easily cause injury and death from the wake generated. Honestly, if it turns out any kind of vessel was involved then surely it's time to tighten controls massively.

@BonesBrennanz swim round it, parallel to the beach until you can no longer feel it’s pull. Whats more concerning is DS didn’t learn this from us, his parents, or the school swim lessons, his private swim lessons more than likely didn’t prepare, it was the life guarding lessons.

@echt thank-you for that link.
Considering how many UK beaches don't have lifeguards it really is something that people should be made aware off.

@watermeloncougar that's what I'm thinking too. No physical contact but using the wake from the jet ski to make it harder for the people to swim.

I suppose if they did jump off the pier they may have been within the designated boat and jet ski area and a rider/skipper may have behaved recklessly (in anger, or to scare them in order to make them realise they shouldn’t be in that area)

Thank you @echt and @Effingmagicfairy. Really helpful information.

@Sugarfree23 or even worse, the wake from a powerful vessel forcing them into the piles of the pier or into rocks. The reports described the victims as having critical injury, though I suppose that could be the case if they were forced under water too.

It's just horrific, but one thing is clear (whether a vessel was involved or not) ... these sorts of vessels should be nowhere near bathers. There are so many near misses, as well as the terrible incidents that have happened in the past