West Mersea beach tragedy as woman and girl die despite heroic actions of local teens

West Mersea beach tragedy as woman and girl die despite heroic actions of local teens Essex Police confirmed that a woman in her 40s and a teenage girl died after a group of people got into difficulty in the water at West Mersea Beach with three others taken to hospital A woman in her 40s and a teenage girl have died after getting into difficulty at a beach in Essex despite the heroic efforts of three young café workers. Emergency services were called to West Mesea Beach, Mesea Island, just before 5.30pm last night with reports that several people had got into difficulty in the water. Ambulance crews, police, an air ambulance and the coast guard were all called to the scene, but despite their best efforts, the woman and teen girl were pronounced dead. A third person was taken to hospital in a serious condition, where they remain according to Essex Police, and two others are in hospital with non life-threatening injuries. An investigation has been launched with police believing that those involved knew each other. Three young workers at a nearby café, described as heroes, rushed out to help the group after they got into difficulty in a "riptide", the Mirror learned. The teens, who work at the Seaview Beach Café, were among the first on the scene after hearing a commotion outside. Leonie Powling, 19, was one of those workers who dropped everything to help. She told the Mirror: "We had someone run to the café saying they needed help, so we all stopped what we were doing and ran to the beach. We saw some people on the beach, and there were still some casualties in the water. "We started running around, trying to find anyone with a kayak or a paddleboard. We couldn't just run into the water because there was a riptide, and everyone would've just been sucked in. We were sat with a casualty making sure she was okay. There was another casualty we got out of the water, who was struggling to breathe at that point. "One of the workers went up to her, patted her on the back and said: 'You need to make yourself throw up.' After that, the RNLI got into the water and got the other casualties out. The ambulance and the police turned up and we were all leading them to where the casualties were. "I'm feeling fine now, to be fair, but it's not good to know people have died. But it's good to know that some of them survived. That's the best thing about it. We got some people out, safe and okay. One is in serious condition, but will hopefully get better. With the other two, we're just thinking about the family. It's heartbreaking." Melanie Shuker, 64, is the owner of the Seaview Beach Diner, her great niece Leonie was among those who rushed to help. She said: "It was my day off and I heard all the emergency services coming down to the beach area. I had a phone call from Melissa - my colleague - and one of her daughters was working here, as was my great niece. "I drove straight away down here. The girls had heard shouting on the beach, people shouting 'help me, help me', because it was very close to the beach. Then two girls ran into the café quite hysterical and asked for help, if anybody could help them. All of the girls - who were aged from 16 to 19 - all of them went to the water's edge where a man had pulled, I believe five people from the water. "One of the girls that worked here called emergency services and pinpointed the exact location to emergency services. Between the girls they took one of them over, banged them on the back till they brought up seaweed and stuff like that, so it was quite traumatising for them. I'm proud of them all to just cope with it - it's the first time they've had to deal with something like that." Detective Chief Inspector Al Pitcher of Essex Police said: "Today, our thoughts remain with the family members who are coming to terms with their loss. We are grateful to the people who have already spoken to us and helped with our enquiries. We would ask anyone who was at the beach at the time, and who has not yet spoken with officers, to please get in touch, to help us understand what happened." Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage which may help police is asked to contact the force on 101, quoting incident 1090. Kiera French, 18, was working at the Seaview Beach Diner when the tragedy unfolded. She said someone ran in shouting for help, telling the Mirror: "Some people got into trouble in the water - quite a few of them. There was obviously quite a lot of panic on the beach. "Someone was screaming for help, I guess because he couldn't swim. Two young girls came over to the café asking for a life buoy. I pointed them in the direction of one, then got straight on the phone to 999. I stayed on the phone to 999, and then when they arrived they took over. I just think they didn't know about the tides and got caught out. It's just unfortunate they didn't know how strong the tide was." A spokesperson for the East Anglian Air Ambulance service confirmed it sent a helicopter to West Mersea yesterday evening as part of the emergency response. A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service confirmed that two people died at the scene, one person was taken to hospital by air ambulance and three were taken by road ambulance. The spokesperson said: "Following reports of multiple people in distress in the water at Sea View Holiday Park, West Mersea, we dispatched multiple resources including our Hazardous Area Response Team, critical care paramedics and two air ambulances. Sadly, despite best efforts, two patients could not be resuscitated. One patient was transported by air to hospital, and a further three patients were transported by road to hospital." Local residents and witnesses described the tragedy as a "nightmare". Rita Coombs, who lives in West Mersea, said she saw emergency services helping a group of people on the beach. She told the BBC: "It was absolutely horrific. I can't praise the emergency services [enough]. It was beyond all belief - they worked so hard. She said she tried to support emergency services during the "nightmare that was unfolding." "The feeling was we just wanted to go out and help. Our hearts were going out to those people fighting for their lives," she added. "It's a very sad island at the moment. We're just sending our thoughts to the people that have passed and the people left behind. It's tragic, absolutely tragic." The Mirror has launched the Save Lives For Sam water safety campaign to tackle the UK's growing drowning crisis. Backed by MPs, Olympic champions, national water safety organsations and bereaved families, the campaign is calling for urgent action to make our waters safer. The campaign is calling for: * The Government to launch an urgent public awareness campaign ahead of the summer holidays which targets parents and children on TikTok and other social media platforms. This should include lifesaving techniques and advice such as avoid diving into the water and information on cold water shock. * Water companies and those in control of high risk large water bodies, to ‘do the right thing’ by bringing in the correct safety equipment. * Compulsory lessons in schools (ahead of the holidays) on how to survive if you get into difficulty in the water, which should include the Water Safety Code, the RNLI ‘Float to Live’ campaign, and Phone-Float-Throw bystander advice. * Put in place ‘Sam’s Law’. We urge the Government to make it law that safety equipment should be installed around high risk large bodies of water and make damaging this safety equipment an aggravated criminal offence to damage or steal this safety equipment. Currently it is already a criminal offence under theft or criminal damage but the penalties are low for these very minor offences. * And finally the appointment of a Minister for Water Safety, as they have in Wales and Scotland, as drowning must be accepted as a preventable public health issue. Find out more about the campaign and how you can support it here.