Girl and parents drown and another daughter fighting for life after swimming tragedy in Shoreham in England

Three members of the same family have died and a fourth is fighting for life after they were swept into difficulty at a beach in England.

The teenage girl and her parents were pulled from the water yesterday afternoon after all four family members entered the sea for a swim in Shoreham in West Sussex.

A younger daughter remains in hospital in a critical condition.

The horror unfolded shortly before 3pm when local fishermen raised the alarm after seeing a young girl in trouble.

They then saw another girl, a woman and a man battling against the waves.

Witness Joe Chrisp said that one of the local fishermen told him the group was made up of two adults and two children.

“One of the kids apparently got caught in a fishing net,” the 24-year-old said.

Chief Supt James Collis said the four had entered the water together before getting into difficulty.

“Tragically, despite the best efforts of paramedics, three people — a man, a woman and a teenage girl — were sadly confirmed deceased,” he said.

“We can confirm all four people were from the same family and their next of kin had been informed.”

Two helicopters, eight ambulances, lifeboat crews and coastguard teams raced to the beach as a massive emergency response swung into action.

Horrified beachgoers watched as paramedics performed CPR after the victims were brought back to shore.

Victoria Flint was at the beach with her husband Gary and their children.

“We arrived at about three and soon after we heard the siren for the lifeboat,” she said.

“We watched it launch and then, about 20 minutes later, it came back. Ambulances started arriving.

“More and more of them. Then the air ambulances started.”

Pete Book said a yellow air ambulance landed as emergency vehicles flooded the area.

“There were a lot of ambulances, coastguard and police vehicles converging on the area, and the coast road was closed,” he said.

Shirley Pumfrey, who lives near the harbour mouth, said the sheer number of emergency crews was “horrific”.

“The whole road was just full of emergency services. It was horrific and quite scary to see that many,” she said.

An investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.