Inquest opens into Bolton man's death off Fylde coast beach

The inquest into the death of a Bolton man off the coast of Rossall started yesterday.
Tomas Yohannes died off Rossall beach on July 17Tomas Yohannes died off Rossall beach on July 17
Tomas Yohannes died off Rossall beach on July 17

Tomas Yohannes, a 29-year-old Amazon warehouse worker originally from Eritrea, was in the surf on Saturday, July 17 – one of the hottest days of the year – with friends when he suddenly went under the waves and failed to resurface at around 3.25pm.

Following a five-hour search involving RNLI lifeboats and the Coastguard, Mr Yohannes’ body was found close to where he was last seen.

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Opening the inquest at Lancashire’s Coroners Court, area coroner James Newman said: “Mr Yohannes had travelled to Fleetwood with nine friends on July 17, who all worked together at the Amazon warehouse in Bolton.

“The group went to Rossall Beach, behind Rossall School. Member of the group were in the sea and the water was upto Tomas’s waist. His friends noticed quickly that he had disappeared and emergency services were notified at 3.25pm of his disappearance.

“A search and rescue operation was launched with RNLI and Coastguard members looking for Tomas.

“At around 8.10pm a body was located in shallow water at Rossall Beach and Mr Yohannes was pronounced dead by medics at 8.22pm.

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Following the opening of the the inquest, the case has now been adjourned until October 27.

A fundraiser has been set up to help support the funeral costs of Mr Yohannes.

Organised by Daniel Rezene, he said: “ We are raising a fund to support the family of the victim to cover for the funeral and other costs. This is the time where we pledge our support and assistance to the family.”