Overview
- Emergency services were called to Central Promenade around 3.10–3.15pm on 2 January after reports of multiple people in the water.
- A 67-year-old man was pulled from the sea unconscious and died shortly afterward, and a second body was recovered later that evening; police say the circumstances are not suspicious.
- HM Coastguard suspended overnight operations at about 12:30am, resumed at first light, then stood down the wider effort at roughly 4pm on 3 January with one person unaccounted for.
- The multi-agency response deployed helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, lifeboats, coastguard rescue teams, fire, police, and ambulances, though three-metre waves, snow, and freezing temperatures limited launches.
- Eyewitnesses reported a teenage girl was knocked into the sea by a large wave near the Pier Towers steps as relatives and bystanders tried to reach her, and authorities asked the public to keep away from the area.