School 'deeply saddened' by death of family in sea off Shoreham

A school attended by a 14-year-old girl who died alongside her father and mother after getting into difficulty in water off the coast of Shoreham-by-Sea has paid tribute to her.

Sara El-Khawas and her parents Hassan El-Khawas, 55, and Zeina Alayn, 37, are believed to have gone into the water near Shoreham Fort in West Sussex on Tuesday, according to Sussex Police.

In a statement on its website, the Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in Ealing, west London, described Sara as a "sweet girl, well-liked by staff and students".

A fourth member of the family, a younger girl, remains in hospital in a critical condition.

Head teacher Rachel Kruger said: "We are deeply saddened by this, and our thoughts are with her family, friends and all those affected.

"Our focus is now on supporting staff and students who have been affected by this."

Further floral tributes have been left near Kingston Beach in Shoreham on Thursday morning.

The Palestinian Forum said that the family were British citizens of Palestinian origin, with roots in the Rashidieh refugee camp in Lebanon. Earlier, the Palestinian embassy in London told the BBC that Hassan El-Khawas had been a refugee.

The family are believed have travelled to Shoreham from London on the same day of the incident, which is believed to be a tragic accident with no third-party involvement, police said.

Speaking on BBC Radio Sussex, Deputy Chief Constable Paul Court called the incident "utterly, utterly tragic", and praised the work of Sussex Police officers and other emergency services, adding that the response was "really professionally managed".

Asked about two other children, who a spokesperson for the Palestinian Forum in Britain said were on the shore at the time of the incident, Court said: "We shouldn't forget that as part of that investigation we have to break the bad news to those families, and that is utterly traumatic for those families to receive that news, and for those who have to break it to them."

Those children are now being looked after by an uncle, according to the Palestinian Forum in Britain.

Taher Aziz, of the Adur Muslim Centre, also said that the community was "shocked to learn of the loss of three members of a family, and the critical condition of the surviving young girl", adding: "We will be praying for the deceased and for the swift recovery of the young girl in hospital."

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham warned of the dangers of open water swimming after the incident, which he described as "a terrible family tragedy".

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