Prime Minster sends sympathies to relatives after three die in ‘terrible tragedy’ at sea
Andy Burnham has sent his sympathies to the relatives and friends of a girl who is fighting for her life after three of her family members died following an incident at sea off West Sussex.
The Prime Minister warned of the “dangers of open water swimming” during an exceptionally hot summer, after the “terrible family tragedy” in Shoreham-by-Sea, and said the Government can “always” do more on water safety. 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 to the incident on Tuesday afternoon when police were told four people had got into difficulty in the water. Asked during a visit to the North East if the Government needed to do more on water safety after the incident, the Prime Minister replied: “Always. It’s so sad to hear what happened yesterday, and obviously we think there’s a young girl still in the hospital fighting for her life, and we send our best wishes and love to wider friends and family. But a real tragedy, a real terrible family tragedy. “Always, there’s more that can be done. Obviously, we will look in detail at what happened. “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 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. As I say, just huge sympathy to the friends and the family.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub