Hero tells of attempt to save drowning girl and mother on Essex beach

A man who bravely tried to save a mother and daughter who drowned off an Essex beach has spoken about how he desperately swam out to save the pair.Craig Bowe, 42, and his family were having a day out in West Mersea, near Colchester, on Wednesday evening to celebrate his daughter's 10th birthday, when he heard screams.The boy has since been airlifted to hospital and remained in a critical condition on Friday, while three others were taken to another hospital.Shally RahmanSocial media Mr Bowe, from Northaw, Hertfordshire, was alerted when a man cried out as two bodies floated in the waterHe told the BBC: "When I got there, the first two people I saw were actually face down, so [it was] more serious than I initially thought."Mr Bowe first managed to rescue Mrs Rahman and then dashed back into the water to pull 15-year-old Samiha to shore.He then made a third excursion into the sea to rescue to the seven-year-old boy and another child who had drifted about 150 yards (137m) out to sea, helping them into a lifeboat."I helped sort of shoo him onto the boat, because he was face down too... but the seven-year-old was not in a good way.Read More"The waves were hitting me in the face. The current was definitely stronger," he added.Mr Bowe's wife Carly, 43, and other bystanders tried to resuscitate the mother and daughter on the beach before paramedics arrived.She said: "I just wanted them to survive and every bit of me was willing her to breathe."The family arrived at the beach at around 11am and earlier came across the victims as they had a "great time" together on their day out.Six hours later as "hysterical" screaming rang out over the beach.Relatives of Mrs Rahman and her daughter have said they are “speechless and “shocked” at the tragedy. The pair were reportedly “not very good swimmers” and were just on a “day out”.Samiha RahmanFamily handoutEssex 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.The force has now confirmed that the mother and daughter, from London, were believed to be trying to help the boy, seven, who is in hospital in a critical condition.Speaking to the BBC, Shally Rahman’s brother in law, Matiur Rahman, said about 10 members of his family were near the water playing when “suddenly a big wave came”.Mr Rahman said: “We all feel very bad, my four brothers, my sister… everybody in the UK and back home (in Bangladesh).“My whole family – we are speechless. We can’t believe what we heard from my brother.The East of England Ambulance Service initially said that one patient was transported by air and three taken by road to hospital after the incident in the water at Sea View Holiday Park.Detective Chief Inspector Al Pitcher said: “My thoughts, and those of my team, are with the friends and family of the woman and girl who died yesterday.“We can now confirm they were a mother and daughter from London and we are supporting their family in what is an unimaginable time.“Since yesterday we have been working to establish the circumstances which led up to this incident.He added: “As part of our investigation we are working through speaking to dozens of witnesses and taking their accounts, and we are building a picture of what happened.”The family have asked for privacy, the police said.Emergency services had urged people to avoid part of the beach in Essex after what the coastguard rescue team described as a “tragic incident”.The West Mersea Coastguard Rescue Team said: “Our thoughts are with the family involved.”Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage which may assist the police investigation is asked to get in touch on 101 and quote incident 109.