04/09/2012

No Lifeguard Cover At Death Beach

Lifeguard cover at a Cornish beach, where a mother was fatally caught in a rip current, had ceased a day before the incident.

Two boys had been bodyboarding when they got into difficulty.

The mother, 50, was trying to aid her two sons aged 11 and 13, when they got caught in a current off Northcott Mouth, near Bude, at around 2pm on Monday.

Steve Instance, RNLI lifeguard inspector, said: "We understand the boys got into difficulty but what led to the mother being in the water we can't say at this stage.

"This is the week when schools traditionally go back, some of the more rural beaches are only lifeguarded during the very peak periods of July and August.

"Unfortunately the lifeguard service had finished on Sunday and they chose to visit on Monday."

"We would not like to pre-empt exactly what would have happened during that scenario, we can only react to what has happened and clearly it has led to a bad tragedy," he added.

Men who rescued one of the boys from the water and alerted the emergency services. Summerleaze Beach lifeguards arrived at the scene, recovering the woman from the water and performed CPR. She was later taken to North Devon District Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

(GK)


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