A six-year-old girl has died in hospital after she was pulled from the sea in West Sussex alongside three family members who also died, according to a law firm acting for the hospital and the Palestinian Forum in Britain.
Saja El-Khawas died on Friday after the deaths of Sara El-Khawas, 14, and her parents Hassan El-Khawas, 55, and Zeina Alayn, 37, on Tuesday afternoon in Shoreham-by-Sea. Saja had been in hospital in a critical condition since the incident.
Family Identified in Legal Notice
Her identity and death were confirmed in a legal notice from solicitors acting on behalf of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, as well as the Palestinian Forum in Britain.
The Palestinian embassy said Mr El-Khawas was a Palestinian refugee from the Rashidieh Camp in Lebanon. Rashidieh Camp is on the Mediterranean coast in southern Lebanon and is one of the most populous Palestinian refugee camps in the country.
Background of the Camp
The older part of the camp was built by the French government in 1936 to accommodate Armenian refugees who fled to Lebanon, while the newer part was built by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in 1963 for Palestine refugees, according to the agency.
Investigation Findings
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 around 2pm before they got into difficulty.
On Wednesday, Sussex Police said their investigation remains open, but after a review of CCTV footage and initial witness accounts, it is currently thought the deaths were a tragic accident, with no third-party involvement.
Chief Superintendent James Collis said: “The events of Tuesday afternoon are a heartbreaking tragedy which has devastated a family and their friends and had a profound impact on the Shoreham community.”
