The man killed in a speedboat accident in Padstow, Cornwall, on Sunday has been named by police as Nicholas Milligan, 51, a senior executive with BSkyB and founding director of Channel 5.
He and an eight-year-old girl, believed to be his daughter Emily, were killed while four other members of the family – his 39-year-old wife, Victoria, four-year-old son, Kit, and daughters, Olivia, 10 and Amber, 12 – were injured.
At a press conference in Bodmin on Monday afternoon, police revealed that Victoria and Kit Milligan had suffered "life-changing" leg injuries. The two girls were kept in hospital overnight but suffered only minor injuries.
Police confirmed that the presence and state of a "kill cord" – a lanyard attached to the helmsperson that cuts the boat's power if he or she falls from the vessel - would be key to their investigation.
They paid tribute to local boat operators and members of the public who had rushed to help the family, and in particular to one man – not named but understood to be local ski school owner Charlie Toogood – who had leapt from his own boat into the runaway vessel to stop it (video).
Two kayakers were quickly on the scene and one of them manoeuvred the small craft close to the runaway boat to try to get to the family.
Police said the family had only been on the water for a matter of minutes before being thrown from the boat.
At the press conference, Milligan's brother, Max, paid tribute to the executive. He said: "Nick – or Nicko, as he was known to us – was an extremely loving father and husband, son and brother who doted on his family. As children and teenagers we spent many summers and new year's eves at New Polzeath [a few miles from the scene of the tragedy] and a few years ago he built his dream home above Daymer Bay."
Struggling to hold back tears, Max Milligan added: "That he and my delightful niece died in their favourite place at the end of a gloriously sunny bank holiday weekend provides us with a tiny glimmer of light."
Detective Superintendent Jim Colwell, of Devon and Cornwall police, said at the press conference it was a "sad and tragic set of circumstances" that took place on a "sunny and beautiful day in a beautiful part of the world".
He said the police had been alerted to the accident in the Camel river just outside Padstow harbour just before 4pm on Sunday. They had been told that two adults and four children had been "ejected" from a motorboat that had gone out of control and began circling before "coming into contact" with the people in the water.
Colwell paid tribute to the "brave and heroic" help offered by local people and holidaymakers who dashed to help the family in the water. "If people hadn't come to their assistance I'm confident the incident would have been far worse in terms of the overall death toll," he said.
"The reason that boat didn't stop when it should have done when there was nobody left on it is a key part of our investigation. The kill cord, the presence of, state of and how it was attached or otherwise will be a key focus of our investigation."
He would not comment on whether Milligan was an experienced boat user, and said the accounts of the survivors would be crucial, though establishing their stories would be a "very delicate process".
The boat would be subject to forensic investigation by the police and members of the marine accident investigation branch.
Colwell said the number of formal statements taken by police was already into double figures. Twenty-five staff, including detectives, forensic experts and family liaison officers, were involved, with officers offering reassurance to holidaymakers and residents.
He thanked the witnesses who had come forward so far but asked for anyone who had seen what happened or had footage of it to come forward.
Matt Pavitt, of the North Cornwall Coastguard, said numerous 999 calls had been taken by its operators in Falmouth. He paid tribute to local boat operators for the outstanding work they did in going to the aid of the family. If they had not reacted so well, the situation could have been "far more serious", he said.
Of Toogood's actions, Pavitt said: "He manoeuvred his boat alongside the vessel, picked his moment and jumped – he realised the severity of the situation." Pavitt asked for Toogood to be left alone by the media. "The enormity of what he achieved is sinking in," he said.
