A six-year-old girl rescued from the sea at Shoreham was resuscitated but died in hospital after showing signs of a brain injury throughout treatment, an inquest has heard.
Palestinian refugee Hussam El-Khawas, 55, his wife Zeina Alayan, 37, and their daughter Sara El-Khawas, 14, were confirmed dead after being pulled from the water in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, on August 18. Their younger daughter Saja El-Khawas, six, was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died on August 21.
Inquest hears of family's final moments
An inquest opened into the deaths of the four family members at Horsham heard that the father, mother and older sister were brought to the shore by the RNLI at Kingston Beach but were declared deceased at the RNLI lifeboat station. The hearing was told that the RNLI had responded to reports of "members of the public getting into trouble in the sea".
The younger daughter, Saja, was initially taken to the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton before being transferred to the Evelina Children's Hospital at St Thomas' Hospital in London.
Medical details revealed
Coroner's officer Kelly Truss told the hearing: "All clinical signs throughout her admission showed evidence of a hypoxic brain injury." Ms Truss said that she was pronounced dead on August 21 and a provisional cause of death given by Dr Hawa Sesay was 1a hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy and 1b drowning.
Ms Truss said that a cause of death had not yet been ascertained for the other three family members. She added that Mr El-Khawas's brother, Adnan Al-Kwass, had been identified as next-of-kin and had been informed of the inquest proceedings but had not attended the brief hearing.
Inquest adjourned and investigation ongoing
Coroner Penelope Schofield adjourned the inquests until March 16 next year and said: "In respect of all four family members, there is an ongoing police investigation. Once that is completed, the inquests will be brought forward." She said: "I offer my sincerest condolences to the wider family for the loss of these four family members in these circumstances."
The inquest heard that Ms Alayan, described as a "homemaker", was born in March 1989 in Al Rachidieh and she was Lebanese, while her husband, an "employed construction worker", was born in January 1971 in Rachidie and was also Lebanese. Both are understood to hold British passports. Sara was born in October 2012 in Kensington, while Saja was born in December 2019, also in Kensington, and the family lived in Craven Park, north-west London.
It is believed the family travelled from their home in London to visit Shoreham and entered the water from the beach near Shoreham Fort at about 2pm before they got into difficulty. Police, paramedics, coastguard crews and a lifeboat were at the scene where the four people were recovered from the water.
Sussex Police has said their investigation remains open, but after a review of CCTV footage and initial witness accounts, it is currently thought the deaths were an accident, with no third-party involvement. Mr El-Khawas was a Palestinian refugee from the Rashidieh Camp in Lebanon, the Palestinian embassy has said. Rashidieh Camp is on the Mediterranean coast in southern Lebanon and is one of the most populous Palestinian refugee camps in the country.
A GoFundMe page was set up by the Palestinian Forum in Britain, which supports the Palestinian community in the UK, and which last week had exceeded its £20,000 goal to cover funeral and repatriation costs to Lebanon and to support the family.
