Two youngsters died after 'flash' rip current at Bournemouth beach

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Two youngsters drowned after being caught in a rip current following an “unexpected anomaly of nature". A coroner has concluded that the deaths of Joe Abbess, 17, and Sunnah Khan, 12, at Bournemouth beach were accidents, following an eight-day inquest.

Joe and Sunnah drowned and eight other people were treated by paramedics after they were thought to have been caught in a rip current next to the pier on May 31 last year. READ MORE: Met Office issues update on Hurricane Kirk warning of 'disruptive' wind and rain Throughout the eight-day inquest into their deaths, the parents of the two youngsters questioned the response time of the lifeguards and whether there should have been more prominent warning signs about the risk of rip currents by the pier, along with safety advice for swimmers.

On Friday, returning her findings, Dorset senior coroner Rachael Griffin said: “I cannot say the tragic outcome would have been any different if the lifeguards had entered the water earlier as this would be purely speculative. “This was a spontaneous event and not an event that was impacted by deliberate human factor.” The coroner further noted that she was satisfied "nothing more than was done, could have been done" to prevent the tragic deaths and that the flash rip current would have been challenging to spot from the beach, where lifeguards were patrolling.

It is believed that the flash rip current occurred around 3.45pm that day, with the first lifeguard entering the water to begin rescues at 3.53pm.