The search for a missing person following a fatal incident off the East Yorkshire coast was called off on Saturday afternoon, HM Coastguard confirmed. Two people have died and a third remains missing after attempting to rescue a teenage girl who was swept out to sea near Withernsea on Friday.
The coastguard said its extensive search effort was stood down at around 4pm on Saturday after resuming shoreline searches earlier that day. Humberside Police reported that a 67-year-old man was pulled unconscious from the water and died at the scene, while a second person's body was recovered on Friday evening.
Witnesses described the chaotic scene at Central Promenade, where the incident occurred around 3.15pm on Friday. Paul Whitehead, owner of Castle Cafe, said a girl aged about 15 was washed away after going down concrete steps near Pier Towers. Her parents and several others entered the water to help, but the girl lost hold of a life ring and went under.
Karen Higgs, 66, told The Telegraph that the girl was swept out by waves and failed to catch a safety ring thrown to her. Emergency services, including a rescue helicopter, coastguard teams, RNLI lifeboats, and Hornsea Inshore Rescue, attended the scene. Hornsea Inshore Rescue noted on Facebook that it was initially unable to launch due to three-metre waves and horrendous conditions.
Police said the circumstances surrounding the deaths are not believed to be suspicious and urged the public to avoid the area to allow emergency services to work safely.
