Generator fumes caused deaths

A mother and her 10-year-old daughter died after being poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes as they slept on a moored boat on Lake Windermere, according to the initial findings of a marine accident investigation.

Exhaust fumes from a generator, whose improvised exhaust and silencer system had become detached, had spread into the cabin where Kelly Webster, 36, and daughter Lauren Thornton were asleep.

"The boat's carbon monoxide sensor system did not alarm because it was not connected to a power supply," said an interim report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

A full MAIB report into the incident will follow later.

Pictures of Kelly Webster and her 10 year old daughter Lauren Thornton from Leyland who were poisoned by carbon monoxide while on a sailing trip on Windermere.

Officers investigating the Windermere boat deaths will look closely at the vessel's generator, Detective Inspector Mike Brown, of Cumbria Police, said today.

He also told reporters there were issues with the aftermarket generator that were "clearly evident".

A 39-year-old man who was taken to hospital for treatment after falling ill on a boat in Windermere, has been released.

Matthew Eteson, from Leyland, was on the boat with Kelly Webster and Lauren Thornton, who both died from what police say was 'suspected gas poisoning'.

A 39-year-old man who survived the Windermere boat incident remains in Royal Lancaster Infirmary receiving treatment today.

Cumbria police confirmed that it is not treating the deaths of a mother and her young daughter who were on the boat as suspicious:

An eyewitness has praised the professionalism of the emergency services in responding to the Lake Windermere boat tragedy, which claimed the lives of Kelly Webster, 36, and her 10-year-old daughter Lauren Thornton.

The victims who died from suspected "gas poisoning" on a boat in the Lake District were a mother and daughter, named by Cumbria Police today as Kelly Webster, 36, and Lauren Thornton, 10.

The deaths of a 36-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl in Windermere may have been caused by a faulty boat generator, The Telegraph reported.

Tony Rothwell, who manages Bowness Bay marina, said lake wardens told him that the victims' boat had been fitted with a faulty generator, which was connected to a fan heater.

Mr Rothwell said: "It was an amateur job, the boat had been fitted with a generator and the exhaust has leaked. It had been a very cold day and the fan heater was connected to the generator. It is a terrible tragedy."

The unfolding incident, at a jetty near Bowness, was witnessed by businessman and television personality Duncan Bannatyne who remarked on the police and ambulance activity to his followers on Twitter.

The Dragon's Den star later posted a photograph of the scene, saying: "Tragic accident over there I am afraid."