Shoreham incident: Three members of same family die after getting into difficulty in water in Sussex

Summary

Three members of the same family have died after getting into difficulty in the water at Shoreham, Sussex
Police say a man, a woman and a teenage girl died after being pulled from the sea
Chief Superintendent James Collis from Sussex Police says another girl, also a member of the family, was taken to hospital in a critical condition
"At this point we believe all four entered the water from the land for a swim and sadly got into difficulty," he says
The officer says police were called at around 16:00 BST to the incident near Shoreham port - a number of ambulances, a coastguard helicopter and an RNLI lifeboat were among the emergency services deployed to the scene

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Live Reporting

Edited by Laura Sonier, with reporting from Patrick Barlow

Shoreham locals in shockpublished at 21:47 BST
Sam Harrison
Reporting from Shoreham
It has been a tragic evening here in Shoreham.
It was a truly chaotic scene earlier today. Emergency services were called here as four people got into difficulty in the water.
There was an enormous emergency response and people were wondering what had happened.
We now know a man, woman and teenage girl have tragically lost their lives. They have all been confirmed from the same family.
A younger girl has been taken to hospital in critical condition.
This has caused a great level of shock. It will hit locals very hard.
People were taken aback by the scale of the operation, and people knew immediately that something very serious had happened. There was a huge wave of ambulances in the road stretching behind me.
Family got into difficulty while swimming, say policepublished at 21:39 BST
Collis says all four people entered the water from land for a swim and got into difficulty.
The coastguard is not searching for anyone else.
He thanks the public for their patience and asks anyone with information or video footage to contact the police online.

Younger girl in critical conditionpublished at 21:35 BST
A younger girl has been taken to hospital and she is in critical condition, Collis says.
He adds that all four people who got into trouble were from the same family.
Three people confirmed dead, say policepublished at 21:33 BST
Breaking
Chief Superintendent James Collis from Sussex Police is giving a press conference.
He says around 16:00 BST this afternoon emergency services were called to support four people in difficulty in the sea.
All four were brought to shore
Three people - a man, a woman and teenage girl - have died.

Police press conference expected this eveningpublished at 21:29 BST
Sussex Police will be giving an update shortly on the emergency in Shoreham. We will keep you updated with the key developments.
New police cordon around the scenepublished at 21:24 BST
Sam Harrison
BBC News
The strip of beachfront in front of Shoreham Port remains empty as darkness falls on the Sussex coast. Locals are still not allowed close to the water. Meanwhile, a new police cordon has been set up around the scene. A significant police presence has continued here while traffic is being routed away from this section of the A259.

Emergency response enters its fifth hourpublished at 21:13 BST
Emergency services were first called shortly after 15:00 BST following reports of four people getting into difficulty in the water.
The response remains ongoing this evening.
Pictures show scale of Shoreham emergency responsepublished at 20:50 BST
Emergency services including coastguard crews, police officers, ambulance teams and air ambulances responded after reports of four people getting into difficulty in the water.
These pictures show some of the latest activity at the scene.
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
Image caption,
Police officers were among the agencies involved in the response near Shoreham Port
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
Image caption,
Emergency vehicles are parked close to homes near the port
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
Image caption,
Two air ambulances were sent as part of the emergency response
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
Image caption,
Police were among the agencies responding to the incident near Shoreham Port

Multiple emergency service vehicles deployed, as police remain on scenepublished at 19:58 BST
A number of emergency services were deployed following reports of four people getting into difficulty in the water earlier.
Images show the response by crews, as police continue to remain on scene this evening.
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
Image caption,
An air amublance lands as part of the emergency response
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
Image caption,
Police officers have been conducting inquiries
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
Image caption,
Multiple ambulances were deployed to the scene, near the water's edge
Image caption,
Police have remained on scene as of 19:30 BST
'I just hope it's nothing tragic'published at 19:36 BST
Chrissie Reidy
Reporter, BBC South East Today
Shelley Ayres, from Shoreham, also lives opposite the beach and came home from work to find the road closed and emergency services responding to the incident near the port.
"We have never known this," she said, adding: "I'm just hoping it's nothing tragic.
"The sea has been very calm for months and months, but today it has got a lot rougher."
Image source, Chrissie Reidy / BBC
Image caption,
Shelley Ayres says she hopes the situation is "nothing tragic".

'I'm just praying for the families', says Shoreham residentpublished at 19:13 BST
Image caption,
Steve Chapman says he saw multiple emergency vehicles in the area
Steve Chapman lives opposite the beach and says he came home from work but wasn't able to get to his road "because it was cordoned off".
He says he saw numerous helicopters and emergency vehicles.
"There were all sorts of rumours flying around, it was very upsetting," he says.
"All I can say is that I'm just praying for the families."
'It was horrific' - Shoreham residentpublished at 19:00 BST
Chrissie Reidy
Reporter, BBC South East Today
We have been speaking to Shirley Pumfrey, a resident who lives near the harbour mouth.
She says she initially saw a few ambulances before more and more arrived, and then the helicopters landed on the beach.
"I have never seen them do that. The whole road was just full of emergency services," she says.
"It was horrific and quite scary to see that many."
Image source, Chrissie Reidy / BBC
Image caption,
Shirley Pumfrey lives opposite the beach and saw emergency services arriving

Large emergency response as four people in difficulty in waterpublished at 18:49 BST
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know about a large scale response by emergency crews near Shoreham port, in Sussex.
Emergency services say they were called at around 15:00 BST to an incident after reports of four people getting into difficulty in the water.
Police say the incident remains ongoing, while Tom Rutland, the Labour MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, has urged people to "stay clear of the area".
Helicopter footage above Shoreham Harbour shows the size of the emergency response, with coastguard helicopters and other search and rescue vehicles involved, as South East Coast Ambulance Service say a number of ambulances are on the scene.
The BBC's Helena Wilkinson reports it's "very clear that it is a massive emergency service response with a number of agencies supporting the operation".
But we do not know the difficulty the four people are in, or their current condition.
Meanwhile eyewitness Pete Book describes a scene of emergency vehicles "converging on the area".
Stick with us as we continue to bring you the latest updates.
Image source, Eddie Mitchell
'Ambulances still on scene but many vehicles have left'published at 18:36 BST
Callum French
Reporting from Shoreham
A number of vehicles have left the scene now but the road is still cordoned off and a short while ago there were still seven or eight ambulances in the area.
I live in the area and it kicked off at about 15:00 BST when I heard helicopters circling.
It's certainly one of the biggest emergency service responses that I have seen in a long time.

'Avoid the area' - Shoreham Portpublished at 18:25 BST
A spokesperson for Shoreham Port says it is "working with multiple agencies regarding this incident", which emergency services were called to at about 15:00 BST.
It added that it "would urge the public to avoid the area".
Incident occurred off the Shoreham seafrontpublished at 18:12 BST
Kingston Beach, where the incident is taking place, is a short distance from Shoreham Port on the West Sussex seafront, near Shoreham-by-Sea.
The town is about a 20-minute drive away from Brighton.

Eyewitness describes seeing and hearing Coastguard helicopterpublished at 17:59 BST
James Kelly
BBC News
We've been hearing from a nearby resident, Pete Book, who says he was "walking home from the pub" when he "saw and heard the Coastguard helicopter circling over the lifeboat station on the beach".
"As I neared home, a yellow air ambulance helicopter landed. There were a lot of ambulances, Coastguard and police vehicles converging on the area, and the coast road was closed," he says.
Book adds: "An orange-and-white air ambulance then landed, and the Coastguard helicopter flew off."
He says the road is still closed, and there are still "lots of emergency responders and helicopters at the scene".
"The lifeboat had also launched and was being returned to the station."
Seafront road closed near incidentpublished at 17:49 BST
The A259 is closed in both directions due to the emergency services incident, between New Road and Kingston Lane.
The street is a main commuter road between Brighton, Shoreham and Worthing on the South East coast, and further into West Sussex.

Aerial footage shows size of emergency responsepublished at 17:40 BST
Helicopter footage above Shoreham Harbour shows the size of the emergency response after services were deployed following reports of four people getting into difficulty in the water earlier this afternoon.
A number of ambulances are on the scene, along with several police vehicles.
MP urges people to stay away from Shoreham incidentpublished at 17:30 BST
Tom Rutland, the Labour MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, has urged people to "stay clear of the area around Shoreham Fort and Kingston Beach as emergency services respond to reports of several people in difficulty in the water there".
In a post on X, he says that "the incident remains ongoing".