Five-year-old girl dies after being swept out to sea while swimming

A girl has drowned while swimming in Dorset

She was swept out to sea at a beach in Dorset on the south-west coast of England yesterday. The five-year-old was swimming with her mother at Durdle Door, a popular beach, during what was the hottest day of the year so far. The alarm was raised shortly after 11.30am on Wednesday morning when people on the beach noticed that the pair had gotten into difficulty in the water. One passerby managed to get to the woman and bring her to safety but wasn't able to save her daughter. A military vessel that was training in the area answered a MayDay call and rushed to the girl, with its crew retrieving her from the water. She was taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester where she was pronounced dead. Dorset Police have said they don't suspect foul play but will investigate the incident fully. "At this time there is nothing to suggest this was anything other than a tragic accident," said local Detective Inspector Steve May. "However, with the sudden death of any child we have an obligation to carry out an investigation to establish the full circumstances of what happened."