Police offer condolences as two bodies found during search for teenagers missing at sea

Police say two bodies have sadly been found in the search for two teenagers who drifted out to sea yesterday. 

Southport Lifeboat crews joined in the search for brothers Muhammad Azhar Shabbir, aged 18, and Ali Athar Shabbir, aged 16, both last night and today, after they were reported missing after swimming near St Annes Pier. Their  15-year-old cousin, also in difficulty, managed to swim to shore before he was taken to hospital.

A Fylde Police spokesman said: “Our HM Coastguard and RNLI colleagues searching for missing brothers Muhammad Azhar Shabbir, 18, and Ali Athar Shabbir, 16, from Dewsbury have sadly found two bodies.

“The discovery was made at just after 3:15pm this afternoon (Sunday, August 16th) around a mile away from St Annes Pier, where they sadly got into difficulty in the water yesterday evening (Saturday, August 15th).

“Whilst they have yet to be formally identified, they are believed to be Muhammad and Ali. Their family have been notified and are continuing to be supported by a specially trained officer.

“Our thoughts and condolences remain with them and their friends at this incredibly distressing time.

“Thanks again to our colleagues at HM Coastguard, the RNLI and the National Police Air Service (NPAS) for helping the search to find Muhammad and Ali, as well as everyone who sent kind words and offered to help the search.”

Southport Lifeboat crews were among those who were helping the search for the two boys. 

They were called out at 7.45pm last night.

Nick Porter from Southport Lifeboat said: “Our lifeboat had been involved in the massive multi agency search last night and this morning for two teenagers.

“At 7.45pm last night Southport Lifeboat was paged to join the multi-agency search for two missing teenagers, believed to have been swept out to sea near Lytham.

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“Our crew joined RNLI lifeboats from Blackpool and Lytham St St Anne’s, Coastguard Helicopter 936, Coastguard Rescue teams from Lytham and Fleetwood, Fylde Police and North West Ambulance in a large scale search coordinated by Holyhead Coastguard.

“The assets searched until 1.40am when the search was stood down due to there not being enough light.

“The Southport Lifeboat recovered at 2.20am and refuelled, relaunching with a new crew at 5am this morning to resume the search at first light.

“Following a further five hours of searching, the search was called off with nothing found.”

It costs £60,000 to keep Southport Lifeboat functioning all year round. That is no mean task during ordinary times, let alone the extraordinary times we currently find ourselves in.

Southport Lifeboat is funded entirely through public donations, and is independent of the RNLI.

There are other ways you can help the charity continue to save lives, including joining LifeboatLotto or online donations.

For more details about the emergency service, or if you would like to dominate, please visit their website:

http://www.southport-lifeboat.co.uk/

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