The Prime Minister has warned of the dangers of open water swimming as he called the deaths of a mother, father and their teenage daughter who got into difficulty in water off Sussex “a terrible family tragedy”.
Andy Burnham said the Government can “always” do more on water safety after the incident when four people were pulled from the water in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, on Tuesday afternoon.
Sussex Police confirmed on Tuesday night that a man, a woman and a teenage girl had died, while a younger girl was in a critical condition in hospital.
There was a huge emergency service response, with air ambulances, an RNLI lifeboat and coastguard crews among the many at the scene near Shoreham Fort.
Asked during a visit to the North East on Wednesday if the Government needed to do more on water safety after the incident, the Prime Minister said: “Always.”
He urged people to be wary of cold-water shock ahead of “a further heatwave to come in this summer period”.
Mr Burnham said: “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.
“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.”
He said the incident was “a real terrible family tragedy” and sent “best wishes and love to wider friends and family”.
Police believe the family entered the water to go for a swim.
Officers have not yet confirmed the identity of the victims but said their next of kin were being supported by specialist officers.
Joss Loader, who lives nearby and represents Shoreham Beach Residents’ Association on Adur District Council, told the Press Association: “There’s just a really strong sense of shock, obviously people are really concerned for the young girl.
“A small tightly knit community with a very deep sense of shock and that sense of disbelief you get after a tragedy because it has come out of nowhere.”
Shoreham Beach is a spit of land with water on three sides from the River Adur, the estuary and the sea, and Ms Loader said she understood the “tragic events” happened in the estuary.
“It’s school holidays and we have had a wonderful summer so the beaches have been packed with families,” she said.
“The weather was quite calm, not as hot as recent days but it was a perfectly normal day.
“People swim from those beaches even in the winter, generally it is considered as safe as the sea can be. You wouldn’t be swimming there and think you were taking a risk.”
Ms Loader said she has reminded people not to speculate and to allow emergency services to investigate before an inquest is held.
Anna Peacock, 81, who lives near Kingston Beach across the water from Shoreham Fort, said emergency services were on the scene very quickly.
She told PA: “It was terribly sad to know that just across the road people have lost their lives.
“People come down to swim, particularly in the summertime and I don’t think they realise there’s a riptide along here.
“It’s very inviting to come to the sea, but the tide could carry you out in seconds, and I don’t think people have realised that.”
Mrs Peacock said she worries that children today are not taught to swim and said people should be warned about the dangers of swimming in the sea.
A local resident who saw emergency services on the beach near Shoreham Fort on Tuesday afternoon said they heard siren after siren and that the incident was “sad and tragic”.
The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said “that is not the place to go swimming” near the arm, adding there is a big shelf shingle drop-off.
East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tom Rutland said everybody in the area is “shocked and saddened” by the incident and stressed that everybody needs to understand the dangers of open water swimming.
Speaking near the scene on Wednesday, he said: “It’s too early to know exactly what caused yesterday’s trouble that led to the tragic deaths but I think there’s always more that can be done to educate people about water safety.
“I think people living by the sea broadly have a good understanding of the dangers it can pose, but we need to make sure that everybody in the country has that same knowledge, given that people love to come to the coast in the hot summers that we’ve been having.”
Robina Baine, also an Adur councillor who represents the Southwick Green ward where the RNLI lifeboat station is located, said: “These events are absolutely tragic and our thoughts are with the family and friends that have lost their loved ones.
“At the same time we offer our thanks to all the emergency services that gave support and the RNLI in my ward. They are absolutely wonderful.
“If people wish to remember and pay tribute rather than leaving flowers at the site if they would donate to the RNLI that would leave a lasting legacy.
“They do an awful lot of work rescuing people, usually people who get out of their depth… but not anything like this.
“I have been here for 46 years and this is the most tragic incident there has been.”
Police said the coastguard had searched the water “extensively” and was not looking for anyone else on Tuesday night.
Read MorePatient deaths at under-fire NHS trust ‘could be next major health scandal’
Girl fights for her life in hospital after three family members die in beach tragedy
PM vows to help households through ‘really hard’ times as inflation jumps higher
PM: Government money alone may not be enough to get rough sleepers off streets
Monzo banking app goes down leaving users unable to access accounts
Defect found on railway track in area where Lewes train derailed
