A teenage girl and a woman in her 40s have died after several people got into difficulty in the water at an Essex beach.
A third person remains in hospital in a serious condition, and two other people are in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Essex police said in a statement on Thursday morning.
Police said they believed those involved in the incident knew each other.
The force was called by the ambulance service at 5.35pm on Wednesday after reports of the incident near Seaview Avenue in the small coastal town of West Mersea.
DCI Al Pitcher said: “Our thoughts remain with the family members who are coming to terms with their loss. We are grateful to the people who have already spoken to us and helped with our inquiries. We would ask anyone who was at the beach at the time, and who has not yet spoken with officers, to please get in touch, to help us understand what happened.”
Emergency services urged people to avoid part of the beach in Essex on Wednesday night after what the coastguard rescue team described as a “tragic incident”, though on Thursday morning the beach had reopened to the public.
There have been at least 29 accidental water-related fatalities in open water across the UK since mid-May 2026, according to the National Water Safety Forum which tracks such incidents.
An East of England ambulance spokesperson said that it had dispatched its hazardous area response team, critical care paramedics and two air ambulances to the scene.
“Sadly, despite best efforts, two patients could not be resuscitated. One patient was transported by air to hospital, and a further three patients were transported by road to hospital,” they said.
The area is known for its strong currents, though in his response to the incident, local MP, Bernard Jenkin, told the BBC “we don’t think of West Mersea Beach as a dangerous beach”.
Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage which may assist our investigation is asked to contact the police on 101 and quote incident 1090.
