Crews rushed to Southend Pier late Tuesday after reports that two men had jumped from the structure into the sea, triggering a time-critical search that brought together police, paramedics, coastguard officers and rescue teams. The operation was launched at 10.25pm and ended with no persons found.
Essex Police, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and RNLI Southend Lifeboat were tasked first, before Southend Coastguard Officers went to the end of the 1.3 mile pier with police to search the structure and the surrounding water. A police helicopter searched from the air for signs of anyone in the water, while Southend Hovercraft checked the area beneath the pier where officers could not easily see.
After a sweep of the pier, nearby water and mud flats, no persons were found and all teams were stood down. HM Coastguard Southend On Sea later thanked the Pier & Foreshore security officer and RNLI for helping officers on and around the pier.
The search came against a backdrop of growing concern about tombstoning along the Essex coast, with HM Coastguard Southend saying earlier this month that it has seen more people, mainly teenagers, jumping into the sea from piers in recent years. The coastguard identified Barge Pier on Garrison, Gilson Pier on Marine Parade and Bell Wharf at Old Leigh as the places where it has seen the most cases.
Many of those piers have restricted access and warning signs meant to keep people away, but the coastguard says the signs are often vandalised. It also warns that local jetties can hide dangers and tidal flows that make jumping into the water extremely dangerous, especially when people assume they can see enough of the sea below to judge the risk.
For Southend, Tuesday night’s call-out was another reminder that the most dangerous part of tombstoning is often what cannot be seen from the pier: the depth, the current and the hard surface waiting beneath the water. The search ended without finding anyone, but the warning behind it remains unchanged.
