A couple who tried to rescue a mother and daughter who drowned have called for more life-saving equipment to be readily available on the beach where the tragedy occurred.
Craig Bowe, 42, and his wife Carly, 43, were at West Mersea, near Colchester, on Wednesday evening when they heard screams. Craig Bowe attempted to reach the individuals three times in the incoming tide while his wife called emergency services.
Their daughters ran to a nearby cafe to retrieve a life jacket and a flotation ring. "I think the floating devices have to be closer to the front of the shore," Craig Bowe said. "There has to be more life jackets, there has to be more rings, so the fact that my daughter had to go over the road to the cafe to get a life jacket is so frustrating," Carly Bowe added.
During his third rescue attempt, Craig Bowe put on the life jacket for buoyancy in the increasingly rough sea, using the ring to help bring back one of the survivors. Shally Rahman, 41, and her daughter Samiha Rahman, 15, died while attempting to help a seven-year-old relative who was in the water.
Colchester City Council stated that a risk assessment conducted in March by the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) UK concluded that rescue equipment would be unlikely to be effectively deployed in an emergency.