A six-year-old girl rescued from the sea off West Sussex died in hospital after showing continuous indications of brain damage throughout her treatment, an inquest has heard.
Saja El-Khawas passed away on 21 August following a tragic incident at Shoreham-by-Sea three days earlier, which also claimed the lives of her parents, Hussam El-Khawas, 55, and Zeina Alayan, 37, as well as her 14-year-old sister, Sara El-Khawas.
Opening the proceedings into the deaths of all four family members at Horsham, the court was told that the father, mother and older daughter were brought ashore at Kingston Beach by the RNLI, where they were declared deceased at the lifeboat station.
Ms Truss confirmed that Saja was pronounced dead on 21 August, with a provisional cause of death provided by Dr Hawa Sesay as 1a hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy and 1b drowning. She added that official causes of death for her three family members have not yet been established.
The hearing heard that lifeboats were launched after emergency services received reports regarding "members of the public getting into trouble in the sea".
The youngest child, Saja, was initially taken to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton in a critical state before being transferred to the Evelina Children’s Hospital at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
Coroner’s officer Kelly Truss told the hearing: "All clinical signs throughout her admission showed evidence of a hypoxic brain injury."
The court was informed that Mr El-Khawas’s brother, Adnan Al-Kwass, had been notified as next-of-kin regarding the proceedings but did not attend the brief hearing.
Adjourning the inquests until 16 March next year, coroner Penelope Schofield stated: "In respect of all four family members, there is an ongoing police investigation. Once that is completed, the inquests will be brought forward."
She added: "I offer my sincerest condolences to the wider family for the loss of these four family members in these circumstances."
The court heard details about the London family, who resided in Craven Park, north-west London. Ms Alayan, described as a homemaker, was born in March 1989 in Al Rachidieh, Lebanon, while her husband, an employed construction worker, was born in Rachidie in January 1971. Both parents held British passports.
Sara was born in October 2012 in Kensington, and Saja was born in the same area in December 2019.
It is understood the family had travelled from London to visit Shoreham and entered the water from the beach near Shoreham Fort at around 2pm before encountering difficulty.
Police, paramedics, coastguard crews and a lifeboat team all attended the scene where the four were recovered from the water.
Sussex Police confirmed their investigation remains open. However, following a review of CCTV footage and initial witness statements, officers currently believe the deaths were an accident with no third-party involvement.
The Palestinian embassy confirmed Mr El-Khawas was a Palestinian refugee from Rashidieh Camp in southern Lebanon, a densely populated refugee settlement situated on the Mediterranean coast.
A GoFundMe appeal set up by the Palestinian Forum in Britain, an organisation supporting the UK’s Palestinian community, recently passed its £20,000 target to assist with funeral and repatriation costs to Lebanon, as well as providing financial support to the family.
