Three dead and girl critical after family swimming off Shoreham-by-Sea

Three members of a family — a man, a woman and a teenage girl — have died after getting into difficulty while swimming off Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. A younger girl from the same group was pulled from the water in a critical condition and taken to hospital. Emergency services responded to the incident on the beach, with coastguard and RNLI lifeboat crews involved in the rescue operation. Police and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are investigating the circumstances of the tragedy. Shoreham-by-Sea is a coastal town on the English Channel, and the stretch of water where the incident occurred is known to have strong currents at certain times. Authorities urged the public to take heed of safety advice, including checking local conditions and swimming only in designated and supervised areas.