Mum and teen girl DROWN in beach tragedy as locals DESPERATELY try to save family from 'riptide'

A teenage girl died trying to save her seven-year-old cousin who "got into trouble" as the tide came in on West Mersea beach, according to a family friend. Mishba Uddin said the 15-year-old girl Samiha Rahman and her mother Shelina, who also died, "were not very good swimmers" and were just on a "day out" at the beach. Despite the valiant efforts of teenagers on the beach, both Samiha and Shelina, known to family as Shally, were pronounced dead. Matiur Rahman, Shelina's brother-in-law, told of the shock the extended family was feeling. He said: "We all feel very bad, my four brothers, my sister... My whole family - we are speechless. We can't believe what we heard. We are very shocked." Paying tribute to his sister-in-law, he told the BBC: "Shally was a helpful person. She was a housewife and looked after the kids. She was very good actually." Essex Police said officers were called by the ambulance service at 5.35pm on Wednesday after reports that several people had got into difficulty in the water near Seaview Avenue, West Mersea, Essex. The force confirmed on Thursday morning that a teenage girl and a woman in her 40s had died, while a third person is in a serious condition and two others are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries in hospital, police said. The force said they believe those involved in the incident knew each other. The Mirror Facebook:   / dailymirror   The Mirror IG:   / dailymirror   The Mirror TikTok:   / dailymirror   The Mirror Twitter:   / dailymirror   The Mirror Homepage: https://www.mirror.co.uk Sign up for our newsletters: https://www.mirror.co.uk/email #mersea #uknews #essex