A teenage girl died trying to save her seven-year-old cousin who “got into trouble” as the tide came in on West Mersea beach, according to a family friend.
Mishba Uddin said the 15-year-old girl and her mother, who also died, “were not very good swimmers” and were just on a “day out” at the beach.
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 force confirmed on Thursday morning that a teenage girl and a woman in her 40s had died while a third person is in a serious condition and two others are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries in hospital.
The East of England Ambulance Service said one patient was transported by air and a further three patients were taken by road to hospital after the incident in the water at Sea View Holiday Park.
Family friend Mr Uddin, of Colchester, visited the scene on Thursday and told reporters the families involved in the incident had come down for the day from east London and Barking.
He said that the child in a critical condition is a seven-year-old girl, and is the cousin of the dead child – a girl who he said was aged 15.
He said he heard that “the little one got into trouble then the other one tried to save” her.
He added that they were “just a working-class family going for a day out”.
“We as a whole community are in shock actually,” said Mr Uddin.
He said the father is a doctor of Bangladeshi heritage but he “only knows the grandfather very well”.
“They are a very nice and likeable family,” added Mr Uddin.
Beach hut owner Beverly Smit, 60, of West Mersea, said she heard the emergency response and went to see what was going on.
“By that time they were ‘re-sussing’ the person on the beach, the helicopters were still in the fields,” said Ms Smit, who works for a local dentist.
She said that she spoke to a day tripper who had rented a neighbouring beach hut and had tried to help.
“He saw and they were calling for help and the children and adults were out there,” she said. “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.”
The beach hut owner added that she and members of her rowing club have helped save people in the sea previously.
Ms Smit described the incident as a “massive scale of rescue and tragedy really”.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to support local authorities following the deaths.
Mr Burnham told ITV Anglia he was “so sad to hear the news” but said he did not have the details of the case.
He 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.”
A woman, who did not give her name, said the incident at West Mersea happened at high tide.
She told the Press Association: “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, who did not give her name, said some of their teenage staff had tried to help.
Carl Powling, a councillor for Colchester Council, said his daughter is one of three teenage waitresses at a local cafe who tried to help.
He told PA: “Three teenage girls, the waitresses in there, actually came out.
“One of them was on the phone directing the police where to come, the other two were on the beach assisting with the first aid, keeping people away from filming it as well.
“Very level-headed, absolutely amazing for that age group.”
He said they helped until the coastguard arrived and there was a “phenomenal speed” of response.
Emergency services had urged people to avoid part of the beach in Essex after what the coastguard rescue team described as a “tragic incident”.
The West Mersea Coastguard Rescue Team said: “Our thoughts are with the family involved.”
Detective Chief Inspector Al Pitcher said: “We would ask anyone who was at the beach at the time, and who has not yet spoken with officers, to please get in touch, to help us understand what happened.”
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said it dispatched multiple resources including a Hazardous Area Response Team, critical care paramedics and two air ambulances to the scene.
Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage which may assist the police investigation is asked to get in touch on 101 and quote incident 1090.
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