Wife and daughter of Bangladeshi politician die after high tide incident at Essex beach | Essex
The names of the young girl and woman who died after getting into trouble in the waters off the Essex coast have been revealed.
Family members identified the couple as Shalina Rahman, a 42-year-old British-Bangladeshi teacher who is married to a Bangladeshi politician, and her 15-year-old daughter Sameeha. A seven-year-old family member was also said to be on life support at a London hospital following the incident.
Shalina Rahman’s husband is Mansur Rahman, leader of Jubo Dal UK, the overseas youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Britain. His father is Mujibur Rahman, the former deputy chairman of the party in England.
The family are understood to have gone on a summer holiday trip to West Mersea; They may have been in a difficult situation here because the sand beneath their feet collapsed due to a strong tide and dragged them into the water.
Essex police were called by the ambulance service at 5.35pm on Wednesday following reports of the incident near Seaview Avenue in West Mersea.
DCI Al Pitcher said: “Our thoughts remain with the family members who are coming to terms with their loss. We are grateful to the people who spoke to us and assisted with our inquiries. We would ask anyone who was on the beach at the time and has not yet spoken to officers to please get in touch to help us understand what happened.”
Emergency services urged people to avoid part of the beach in Essex on Wednesday night after what the coastguard rescue team described as a “tragic incident”. The beach reopened on Thursday.
Family friend Mishba Uddin said she believed the seven-year-old girl had gotten into trouble in the water and her older cousin Sameeha tried to help. Uddin said that as far as he knew, the deceased mother and the young girl “were not very good swimmers.”
He said those involved were from east London and one family lived in Barking. Colchester councilor Carl Powling said his daughter was one of three young waiters trying to help out at a local cafe. “Members of the public witnessed this, called emergency services, helped get people out, then went to the Seaview cafe to seek help,” he said.
A woman, who did not give her name, told the Press Association that the incident occurred at high tide and the small group was trapped on the beach.
“It’s coming very quickly and you have to be careful,” he said, adding that there was “quite a bit of mayhem” and “complete panic”. Helicopters were deployed and the air was filled with the sound of sirens, he said.
“For a small place like this, it was pretty alarming, I think that’s why so many people were shocked,” he said. “So the beach was full of people, they were coming down to see what was going on.”
The woman said emergency services were “working diligently” to deal with an “absolutely tragic” incident.
There have been at least 29 accidental deaths offshore in the UK since mid-May. National Water Security Forum. An East of England ambulance spokesman said it had sent its hazardous area response team, intensive care paramedics and two air ambulances.
“Unfortunately, despite all efforts, two patients could not be resuscitated. One patient was transported to the hospital by air, and the other three patients were transported to the hospital by road.”
The area is known for its strong currents, but local MP Bernard Jenkin told the BBC in his response to the incident: “We do not consider the West Mersea beach to be a dangerous beach.”
Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or images that could assist the investigation is asked to call 101 and pass the number 1090 to the police.
