Six-year-old girl dies in UK hospital days after her family drowned

A six-year-old girl from a British-Palestinian family has died in hospital after a seaside drowning tragedy that claimed the lives of her sister and parents, UK police said.

Saja El-Khawas had been in hospital in a critical condition since the incident on Tuesday at Shoreham on the southern English coast. She died on Friday.

Her father, a Palestinian refugee from the Rashidieh Camp in Lebanon, mother and 14-year-old sister were all pronounced dead after being pulled from the sea by emergency services.

The family are believed to have travelled to the beach at Shoreham from their home in London.

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A review of CCTV footage and witness testimony indicated that the deaths were the result of a “tragic accident”, Sussex Police said in a statement late on Friday.

The Palestinian Forum in Britain said the family were British citizens of Palestinian origin “with roots in the Rashidieh refugee camp in Lebanon”.

AFP

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