A family of three who died after getting into difficulty at sea in the UK on Tuesday were British-Palestinians.
They have been named by police as Hassan El Khawas, 55, his partner Zeina Alayn, 37, and their 14-year-old daughter, Sara El Khawas. Their younger daughter, Saja, was rescued and remains in critical condition in hospital.
Mr Al Khawas was born in the Rashidieh refugee camp in Lebanon, according to the Palestinian embassy in the UK. The embassy said it believed that all members of the family had British citizenship and lived in Sussex.
The family were well established in the UK and active members of the British Palestinian community, according to Nehad Khanfar, head of the Association of Palestinians Communities in the UK.
They said Mr Al Khawas’s brothers and children were currently being supported by close friends and family. Their extended family in Lebanon has also been contacted about the tragedy.
APCUK will be organising the condolences event after the burial. “The community is very affected. We were all shocked. But at this time we have to support the family,” Dr Khanfar told The National.
A postmortem examination will need to take place before the bodies can be buried.
The three died after getting into difficulty in the water in Shoreham, West Sussex. Floral tributes and messages of condolence have been left on the seafront.
Sussex Police Chief Superintendent James Collis said emergency services were called to reports of four people in difficulty in the water close to Shoreham Fort at 2.40pm on Tuesday. Police officers, supported by the coastguard and RNLI lifeboat crew, brought all four people ashore.
“Tragically, despite the best efforts of paramedics, three people – a man, woman and teenage girl – have sadly been confirmed deceased,” said Mr Collis.
“A younger girl has been taken to hospital and is in a critical condition. We can confirm all four people were members of the same family, and their next of kin have been informed. At this point, we believe all four entered the water from the land to swim and sadly got into difficulty.”
Rashidieh camp was built by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in 1963 to accommodate refugees who came from Deir Al Qassi, Alma, Suhmata, Nahaf, Fara and other villages in Palestine. They were relocated from El Buss refugee camp and Baalbeck by the Lebanese government.