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 been named as Samiha Rahman, 15, and Shally Rahman, 41. The family said they were “speechless” and “shocked”.
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 mother and daughter, from London, were believed to be trying to help the boy, who is in hospital in a critical condition.
Family in shock
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”. He 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.”
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 at Sea View Holiday Park.
Police investigation
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: “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.
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 said they were “just a working-class family going for a day out” and “we as a whole community are in shock actually”. He said the father was a doctor of Bangladeshi heritage.
Witness accounts
Beach hut owner Beverly Smit, 60, of West Mersea, said she heard the emergency response and saw people being resuscitated on the beach. She spoke to a day-tripper who had rented a neighbouring beach hut and tried to help: “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.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told ITV Anglia he was “so sad to hear the news” and 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.”
High tide warning
A woman, who did not give her name, said the incident happened at high tide: “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 said some of their teenage staff had tried to help.
The West Mersea Coastguard Rescue Team said: “Our thoughts are with the family involved.” Anyone with information or footage is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident 1090.
