Sick onlookers filmed medics as they tried to revive Bournemouth victims - as police urge people not to share footage
1 June 2023, 13:34
One of Britain’s top doctors has urged onlookers who 'voyeuristically' filmed the tragedy on Bournemouth beach unfold to ‘think long and hard about their actions.’
A 12-year-old girl from Buckinghamshire and a boy, 17, from Southampton died yesterday afternoon on the busy beach.
Eight others were hurt after getting into difficulty in the water close to the beach. A small number of people were seen to be filming the tragedy unfold, with videos of the victims being treated surfacing online.
Dr Bob Rosa, a former GP posted comments online about what he saw, praising the work of lifeguards who were first on the scene but tragically were unable to revive the boy and girl.
Dr Rosa told MailOnline: “Those videoing the desperate CPR attempts should think long and hard at their actions, the tragic death of a child is not something anyone should voyeuristically observe.”
A man in his 40s, who had been on the water at the time of the incident, has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Police said today that the group didn’t jump into the water and that no vessel had been in contact with them - following speculation they might have been hit by a jet ski.
“ People were running towards those having CPR filming on their phones,” one witness said.
Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell urged people not to speculate about what happened, and urged people to send any images to police rather than sharing on social media.
"As you can imagine, we are at the early stages of our investigation, and we would ask people not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident to both protect our inquiries and out of respect for the victims and their families.
"We are aware of a number of videos circulating on social media and we would urge people to refrain from doing this.
"We know the beach was very busy when the incident occurred. I am today urging anyone who saw what happened or has any information that may assist to please come forward.
"If anyone has relevant phone footage then they can contact Dorset Police through our major incident public portal where they can upload the images and we will share the links on social media.
"This operation is named Operation Marble. So please share the images with the police rather than on social media," she said.
