Mother and teenage girl who drowned off Essex beach named by family
It was stated that the names of the mother and daughter, who died after getting into trouble in the water off the coast of Essex, were 42-year-old Shally Rahman and 15-year-old Samiha Rahman.
The family told the BBC that a seven-year-old child was also in serious condition in hospital.
Emergency services were called to West Mersea beach, near Colchester, at 5.35pm on Wednesday evening. Eyewitnesses stated that they saw a group of people standing on the seashore during low tide and that they were “calling for help”.
Paramedics said one patient was transported to the hospital by air, while the other three patients were transported to the hospital by road.
A cordon remained at the scene on Thursday as the town was reeling from the tragedy.
Mishba Uddin, a family friend of the deceased from Colchester, told the press that the families involved had traveled from east London and Barking for the day.
He said his father was a doctor of Bangladeshi origin but “only knew the grandfather very well.”
“They are such a lovely, lovely family,” Mr Uddin added.
The owner of the beach hut, 60-year-old Beverly Smit, said she heard about the emergency response Wednesday night and went to see what was happening.
“They were re-interrogating the person on the beach at the time, the helicopters were still out in the fields,” said Miss Smit, who works at a local dentist.
He said he spoke with a day tripper who rented a neighboring beach hut and was trying to help.
“It’s not easy to swim when the tide comes in, you’re swimming against the current, the water was particularly cold yesterday.”
Another woman, who did not give her name, said the incident in West Mersea happened at high tide.
Emergency services had urged people to avoid part of the beach in Essex after what the coastguard rescue team described as a “tragic incident”.
Detective Chief Inspector Al Pitcher said: “Our thoughts today remain with the family members as they come to terms with their loss.
“We are grateful to those who spoke to us and assisted with our questions. We would ask anyone who was on the beach at the time and has not yet spoken to officers to please get in touch and help us understand what happened.”
He added: “At this stage of our investigations, we believe those involved were known to each other. Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage that could assist our investigation is asked to contact us on 101 and quote incident 1090.”
A spokesman for Park Holidays UK, which owns West Mersea Holiday Park adjacent to West Mersea beach, said: Independent He said everyone at the park was devastated by the news of the tragedy and the company extends its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of everyone involved.
The spokesman said that the family involved in the incident were not staying at the park as guests.
