Lake tragedy: two enquiries underway

Man and woman thought to have died

Two investigations are now underway into an incident on a Devon lake which left two people dead and another critically injured.

Both Devon & Cornwall Police and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) have launched parallel investigations after two bodies were recovered from Roadford Lake, Okehampton.

The people who died are thought to be a man in his forties and a woman in her sixties who were on a boat that capsized on the lake on Wednesday. No other boats were involved in the incident. Formal identification of the bodies has yet to be completed.

A woman in her fifties is still in critical condition at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.

Devon & Cornwall Police is now in close liaison with both the MAIB and the coroner as what is expected to be a complex investigation progresses.

Superintendent Toby Davies from Devon & Cornwall Police said: “This has been a tragic incident in which two people have lost their lives.

“We continue to support all of the families involved with the deployment of specialist family liaison officers and our thoughts remain with those families at this difficult time.

“The parallel investigations will look at the circumstances surrounding the incident with the MAIB in addition identifying ways to prevent a similar incident occurring in the future.

“These investigations have already seen liaison with HM Coroner and we would expect this to progress further during the next week.”