 It took lifeguards just under an hour to find a 12-year-old girl who drowned in the sea, an inquest has heard. Sunnah Khan had been swimming near the pier on Bournemouth beach on May 31, when things went tragically wrong and she died alongside 17-year-old Joe Abbess. Investigations have been ordered to find out what exactly led to their deaths. CCTV showed young people struggling in the water at 3.45pm, a pre-inquest hearing at Bournemouth Town Hall was told yesterday. A lifeguard arrived seven minutes later and Joe was pulled out at 4.18pm, with Sunnah only being found at 4.45pm. They were both taken to hospital for medical treatment but the pair ended up losing their lives. When the inquests opened in June, the Dorset Coroner's Court was told there was a suggestion the pair drowned in a riptide. It is believed the 12-year-old was dragged out to sea by a riptide (Picture: PA) Joe Abbess,17, also died on May 31 (Picture: PA) Senior coroner Rachael Griffin said she wanted to focus on what caused this riptide, which was thought to have dragged Sunnah and Joe out to sea. A pleasure cruiser called the Dorset Belle, which was taking passengers from the pier at the time, is currently being investigated. It was previously cleared of any involvement by the police, who seized it after the devastating day. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) also announced no boat was involved and decided not to carry out a full inquiry after a 'thorough preliminary assessment'. But Mrs Griffin said she could not rule out the possibility that the boat's movements played a role in the deaths. Both youngsters were taken to hospital by emergency workers (Picture: PA) To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video She explained: 'Because I do not know what caused the rip current and I know the report by the police refers to possibili){kind=link}
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It took lifeguards just under an hour to find a 12-year-old girl who drowned in the sea, an inquest has heard.
Sunnah Khan had been swimming near the pier on Bournemouth beach on May 31, when things went wrong and she died alongside 17-year-old Joe Abbess.
Investigations have been ordered to find out what exactly led to their deaths.
CCTV showed young people struggling in the water at 3.45pm, a pre-inquest hearing at Bournemouth Town Hall was told yesterday.