Family named after three die in sea off Shoreham beach – BBC News
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Family named after three die in sea off Shoreham
Image source: Al-Arab in UK
Image caption: Hassan El-Khawas, Zeina Alayn and Sara El-Khawas died after getting into difficulty in the sea
By Tanya Gupta
South East
Published 22 minutes ago
Three members of the same family who died after getting into difficulty in the sea off Shoreham have been named by police.
- Hassan El-Khawas, 55,
- Zeina Alayn, 37, and
- their 14-year-old daughter Sara El-Khawas are thought to have gone into the water near Shoreham Fort on Tuesday, Sussex Police said.
A younger girl from the same family, who was pulled from the water with them, remains in hospital in a critical condition.
Police said the family had travelled from their London home to visit Shoreham and after reviewing CCTV footage investigators say they believe the deaths were a tragic accident with no third-party involvement.
The Palestinian Forum said the family were British citizens of Palestinian origin, with roots in the Rashidieh refugee camp in Lebanon. Earlier, the Palestinian embassy in London told the BBC that Hassan El-Khawas had been a refugee.
Adnan Hmidan, chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, said the community was "deeply shocked and saddened" by what had happened.
He said two other children were on the shore at the time of the incident.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire family, particularly the children, who are facing an unimaginable loss," he said.
The Palestinian Embassy in London said it was closely monitoring the incident and contacting British authorities to establish the circumstances and check on the condition of the girl in hospital.
A statement issued by the embassy sent condolences to the family and the UK’s Palestinian community and wished the girl a speedy recovery.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham warned of the dangers of open water swimming after the incident, which he described as "a terrible family tragedy".
"The thing I can say today – and there is still, I think, a further heatwave to come in this summer period – it is just to remind people about the dangers of open water swimming," he said.
"The coldness, even when it feels hot outside, it can shock people and that can cause the difficulties. So people just need to remember that at all times.
"I do need to praise the emergency services who I know were on scene very quickly yesterday. They’ve had a busy summer but they were there and we thank them."
Ch Supt James Collis, of Sussex Police, 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."
Emergency services were called shortly before 15:00 BST on Tuesday to reports of four people in trouble in the water near Shoreham.
Coastguard crews, RNLI lifeboats, air ambulances, police officers and ambulance teams were involved in the response.
Throughout the day people laid floral tributes on the beach near Shoreham RNLI.
