Bournemouth beach tragedy: Everything we know as tributes paid to young victims

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17-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl died after getting into difficulty in the water off the Bournemouth coast on Wednesday afternoon, in an incident that left eight others injured.

• The 17-year-old boy who died after getting into difficulty in the water was described by his family as a “fabulous young man”.

  Joe Abbess, from Southampton, was “kind and generous, loving and caring, hardworking and funny”, according to a family statement issued by Dorset Police.

• Hundreds of mourners gathered at High Wycombe Mosque to pay tribute to 12-year-old Sunnah Khan who lived in the Buckinghamshire town.

• Dorset Police was called by the ambulance service shortly after 4.30pm on Wednesday, requesting assistance on the beach near Bournemouth Pier, amid reports a number of people were “in trouble”
• A total of 10 people were recovered from the water
• As well as the two fatalities, a further eight people were treated by paramedics for “none-life-threatening” injuries

• A man in his 40s, who was “on the water” at the time of the incident, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of manslaughter. Police confirmed on Thursday evening he has now been released under investigation

• A sightseeing boat named the Dorset Belle has been impounded at Poole Harbour by police. A police source told The Times on Thursday evening: “This vessel is under a police cordon. No-one is permitted onboard or to touch the vessel.” On Friday, the 49-year-old sea-going passenger boat remained at anchor at Cobb’s Quay, Poole Harbour, guarded by a police van
• According to the website Marine Traffic, the Dorset Belle had visited Bournemouth Pier, the scene of the tragic incident, at 4pm, just minutes before the first 999 calls were made. The force has declined to comment on any investigation into the Dorset Belle and refused to say what or if any vessel was involved
• The two youngsters who died had not jumped from the pier, been hit by a jet-ski, or had any “physical contact” with a vessel, police confirmed at a press conference on Thursday following widespread speculation

• The popular beach was “very busy” when the incident occurred on Wednesday
• “A number of people already in the water got into difficulty”, police said at Thursday’s press conference, but none of the swimmers had contact with a boat or other vessel
• Members of the public leapt into action in a bid to help the people in difficulty, while emergency services launched a major, multi-agency response
• Student Mackenzie Creech, 18, has told how he attempted to save the 12-year-old girl who died. He was with his friends on Wednesday when they heard shouts and screams. He told MailOnline: “I just rushed in and scooped her up with someone else. She was face down when I got there and not moving. She didn’t appear to have any injuries but I knew it didn’t look good so I carried her on to the beach. I didn’t know she had died until I saw it on the news.”

• Lifeguards manning the beach have been praised for their “exceptional” response. Bob Rosa, a top doctor who happened to be on the beach and helped try to resuscitate the 12-year-old girl who later died, wrote on LinkedIn: “Many of the lifeguards on the beach were teenagers themselves and despite their training would not have encountered such a scene, let alone having to resuscitate two children simultaneously whilst actively searching for others in a crowded sea. These young lifeguards did everything asked of them, they didn’t panic, there was no hysteria, they were exceptional and they followed instruction to the letter whilst taking their own initiative.”
• Dr Rosa is also among beachgoers who have criticised people who allegedly stood by and filmed on their phones as he and others carried out CPR

• Dorset Police has named its investigation into what happened Operation Marble. It is working on the probe alongside the government’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is working with the emergency services to assess safety in the water near the pier. Council leader Vikki Slade said: “There are specific rules relating to the buoys in the water but there is no evidence that any of these rules have been breached.”
• Tobias Ellwood, Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, has called for a safety review following the incident and called on police to clarify the circumstances to end “wild speculation and uncertainty”. “There needs to be a review of the circumstances to see whether any safety measures and protocols need to be upgraded to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future,” he said on Friday
• Police are urging people not to share video of the incident that is circulating online, and ask anyone with footage to share it with the force