Newquay surfer deaths: man died trying to rescue other surfers

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/27/newquay-surfer-deaths-man-died-rescuing-other-surfers

Version 0 of 1.

One of the three people who died on a popular beach in Cornwall on Sunday was trying to rescue other surfers before he himself was caught in a rip tide.

One of the victims was reported to be Stuart Calder a 52-year-old surgeon from Leeds. A man and a woman from St Austell, both in their 40s and who have not yet been named, were also killed off the Mawgan Porth beach on Sunday lunchtime. The beach is not patrolled by lifeguards this late in the year – but this is now under review.

Four teenage boys also got into difficulty, but were rescued unharmed.

Police are trying to piece together how the tragedy unfolded and have urged witnesses to attend a meeting in the local village hall on Tuesday.

Rescue workers said two groups of surfers got into trouble in relatively high-surf. It appears that Calder died trying to help rescue the others.

Steve Instance, RNLI lifeguard manager for the South West, told the BBC: “From the reports we have, one of the people who drowned may have gone in to try to help the others.”

He added: “We believe that the group of children may have been the first to get into difficulty.”

Gareth Horner, lifeboat operations manager, said: “Mawgan Porth is a dangerous beach. We don’t know the exact circumstances or the ability of the people that were rescued.”

“My understanding is that they were in two groups and that one of the casualties actually entered the sea to assist other people who were in trouble.”

Insp Dave Meredith, of Devon and Cornwall police, said he could not say if those who died were related to the survivors.

He said: “What I can say is that they were a 52-year-old man from Leeds, a 44-year-old man from St Austell and a 42-year-old woman, also from St Austell. The four others were all teenage males aged 18, 18, 16, and 15. They were also taken to Treliske and pronounced safe and well.”

Meredith said the names of the dead would be released following formal identification.

A Facebook account of the rescue attempt by Torbay Surf Lifesaving Club suggested the couple from St Austell were pulled out first, as coastguards recovered a third body from the water. The couple were given CPR on the beach before they were airlifted to hospital.

“Sadly our lifeguards and the paramedics were too late to save their lives,” the statement said.

The RNLI confirmed that lifeguards patrol the Mawgan Porth beach only between March and September and that signs on the beach clearly state the lack of cover during other months. A spokeswoman said there would be review of lifeguard cover during autumn and winter holidays and weekends.

“I am sure we will take into account visitor numbers at Mawgan Porth during half-term and, once we know what happened, it will form part of the review into whether we need to extend lifeguard cover there,” the spokeswoman said.

James Millidge, RNLI’s coastal safety manager, suggested to the BBC that it was for the local council to decide whether lifeguard cover should be extended at Mawgan. Speaking from the beach, he said: “We will continue over the course of this winter to assess all the beaches that we provide lifeguards on and make amendments if and where needed on request of the local authority as part of the service level agreements we have with them.”

He urged surfers to use beaches where lifeguards were on patrol. “Throughout Cornwall and Devon there are a number of beaches with extended lifeguard cover through October on weekends and at half-term. They are strategically placed so that they are no more than half an hour’s drive from anyone. We would always recommend that people go and visit a lifeguarded beach.”

Cornwall council said it was impossible to provide lifeguard cover on all of its beaches for the whole year.

In a statement, it said: “It isn’t possible to provide lifeguard cover on all beaches in Cornwall or, indeed, outside of the main season, but the council and the RNLI work very hard to advise the public of the risks and provide advice about beach safety.”

A spokeswoman added that the council and the RNLI were in “constant dialogue” about the level of lifeguard cover.

She said: “Under the service level agreement between the council and the RNLI, the RNLI carry out a risk assessment of each of the 57 beaches within the contract before the start of the season – this outlines the levels of staffing and amount of cover required for each beach during the new season. The proposals from the RNLI are then agreed with the council. This is carried out every year.”

Residents said there were rough seas along the coast on Sunday afternoon. Peter Abell, owner of the Kingsurf surf school at Mawgan Porth, which was not involved in the incident, said some currents were slightly more dangerous than usual but conditions were not as bad as they could be. “The waves were bigger, they were quite big. And it wasn’t the safest of days to be in the sea,” he said. “But it wasn’t particularly dangerous. There were lots of safe places to be and they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”