A district council has committed to a review into beach safety after the deaths of two teenagers who got into difficulty while swimming.
Haider Shamas, 18, and his 14-year-old sibling Malika, were rescued in the sea off Clacton, Essex, last Thursday. Their cousin, 15, was also rescued.
Malika died a few hours after the rescue from what the coroner has provisionally determined to be immersion, while Haider died two days later from pneumonia and brain damage brought on by immersion.
Their cousin is expected to make a full recovery.
Tendring District Council has said that it is reviewing beach safety measures.
‘We have been carrying out a lot of work with the newly formed Tendring Water Safety Partnership, made up several agencies involved in such issues including the RNLI [Royal National Lifeboat Institution], to look at what can be done to address any safety concerns,’ a council spokesperson said.
‘Work has included rolling out water safety messaging to schools through “train the trainer” sessions, development of a water safety film, and being successful in getting the Swim Safe initiative from Swim England and the RNLI to be delivered to 2,000 young people in Dovercourt, Walton and Clacton this summer.’
‘Part of the Forum’s work also includes a signage review along Clacton seafront, and this could be carried out in other parts of the district too,’ they added. ?
