Three members of the same family die after getting into difficulty in sea in Sussex

| News Reporter Published August 18, 2026 9:51pm Updated August 18, 2026 10:06pm A younger girl in the family is also in hospital in a critical condition (Picture: EDDIE MITCHELL) Three family members have died after getting into difficulty in the water in Sussex. A man, a woman and a teenage girl from the same family all died after entering the water to swim in Shoreham, Sussex. A younger girl, also part of the family, has been taken to hospital in a critical condition, Chief Superintendent of Sussex Police James Collis said. Emergency services were first called to Kingston Beach at 3pm after fishermen reported seeing four people struggling in the water. Two air amubulances were involved in the operation (Picture: David McHugh / Brighton Pictures) Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. All four members of the family, who police confirmed were from abroad, were brought to shore. The coastguard is not searching for anyone else. The disaster unfolded just as witnesses Gary and Victoria Flint had taken their children to the beach for the day. Victoria, from Horsham, said: ‘We arrived at about three and soon after we heard the siren for the lifeboat. ‘We watched it launch then about 20 mins later, it came back. Ambulances started arriving – more and more of them – then the air ambulances started.’ The RNLI said lifeboat crews were launched at around 2.50pm this afternoon. Two other lifeboats were also deployed from the Brighton lifeboat station soon after 3pm. A huge emergency response was launched after the family got into difficulty (Picture: David McHugh / Brighton Pictures) The coastguard, meanwhile, said ‘it responded to an incident reported at Shoreham at about 2.45pm’. They added: ‘An HM Coastguard helicopter was sent as well as Littlehampton, Shoreham and Newhaven Coastguard Rescue Teams, and an RNLI lifeboat from Shoreham.’ Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Woman arrested on suspicion of murder after woman in her 90s dies in fire Arrow MORE: ‘Dry strokers’ are the gross swimmers plaguing UK pools and lidos Arrow MORE: Will the vile ‘brown challenge’ pool pooing trend affect your holiday to Spain? News Updates Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.