A young girl has died after getting into “distress” in the water at Durdle Door.
The coastguard were called to the tourist spot at around 11:30am yesterday morning after getting reports that a child and a woman were in trouble.
The five-year-old girl, from Salisbury, was taken to Weymouth and transferred by the ambulance service to Dorset County Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The woman was rescued from the water by a member of the public.
Detective Inspector Steve May, of Dorset Police, said: “Our thoughts are with the family of the young girl involved at this very difficult time.
“At this time there is nothing to suggest this was anything other than a tragic accident 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.
The police are appealing for any witnesses to contact them immediately.
DI May added: “There were a number of visitors in the area at the time and I am appealing to anyone who may have filmed or photographed the incident to please get in touch as it may assist our investigation.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident number 18:127.
