The family of a teenage girl and her mother who died trying to save a seven-year-old family member who 'got into trouble' as the tide came in on West Mersea beach have said they are 'speechless' and 'shocked'.
Samiha Rahman, 15, and her mother Shally Rahman, 41, were reportedly 'not very good swimmers' and were just on a 'day out' at the beach.
Details of the incident
Essex Police said officers were called by the ambulance service at 5.35pm on Wednesday after reports that several people had got into difficulty in the water near Seaview Avenue. The force has now confirmed that the mother and daughter, from London, were believed to be trying to help the boy, seven, who is in hospital in a critical condition.
Speaking to the BBC, Shally Rahman's brother in law, Matiur Rahman, said about 10 members of his family were near the water playing when 'suddenly a big wave came'.
Mr Rahman said: 'We all feel very bad, my four brothers, my sister… everybody in the UK and back home (in Bangladesh). My whole family – we are speechless. We can't believe what we heard from my brother. We are very shocked.'
Emergency response and investigation
The East of England Ambulance Service initially said that one patient was transported by air and three taken by road to hospital after the incident in the water at Sea View Holiday Park.
Detective Chief Inspector Al Pitcher said: 'My thoughts, and those of my team, are with the friends and family of the woman and girl who died yesterday. We can now confirm they were a mother and daughter from London and we are supporting their family in what is an unimaginable time.'
He added: 'Since yesterday we have been working to establish the circumstances which led up to this incident. As part of our investigation we are working through speaking to dozens of witnesses and taking their accounts, and we are building a picture of what happened.'
The family have asked for privacy, the police said.
Community reaction
A man who said he was a family friend, Mishba Uddin, of Colchester, Essex, visited the scene on Thursday and told reporters the families involved had come down for the day from east London and Barking. He told the Press Association that they were 'just a working-class family going for a day out'. 'We as a whole community are in shock actually,' said Mr Uddin.
He said the father was a doctor of Bangladeshi heritage but he 'only knows the grandfather very well'. 'They are a very nice and likeable family,' added Mr Uddin.
Beach hut owner Beverly Smit, 60, of West Mersea, said she heard the emergency response and went to see what was going on. 'By that time they were resussing the person on the beach, the helicopters were still in the fields,' said Ms Smit, who works for a local dentist.
She said that she spoke to a day-tripper who had rented a neighbouring beach hut and had tried to help. 'He saw and they were calling for help and the children and adults were out there,' she said. 'He swam out, I think three times. Two of the children he brought back were not in good condition. It's not an easy swim when the tide's coming in, you're swimming against the tide, the water yesterday was particularly quite cold.'
Warnings and appeals
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told ITV Anglia he was 'so sad to hear the news' but said he did not have the details of the case. He added: 'It does bring over, sometimes, the dangers of open water swimming at this time of the year. I just would ask people to consider that. But thank you to the emergency services who stepped in and of course, you know, we will work to support the local authorities as we get to the bottom of this.'
A woman, who did not give her name, said the incident happened at high tide. She told the Press Association: 'The tide was a lot further in than it is now and that sandbank, they were on there and the tide came in. It comes in very quickly and you have to be careful.'
A worker at a nearby diner, who did not give her name, said some of their teenage staff had tried to help.
Emergency services had urged people to avoid part of the beach in Essex after what the coastguard rescue team described as a 'tragic incident'. The West Mersea Coastguard Rescue Team said: 'Our thoughts are with the family involved.'
Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage which may assist the police investigation is asked to get in touch on 101 and quote incident 1090.
