Three people, including a man, a woman, and a teenage girl, have died after getting into difficulty in the sea off the Sussex coast near Shoreham Port. A younger girl is in a critical condition.
Emergency services were alerted following reports of four individuals needing medical attention in the water. The Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex dispatched both its helicopters and critical care teams to the scene. The Shoreham RNLI lifeboat was also called out at 15:00 BST. The South East Coast Ambulance Service confirmed their attendance to "reports of four people in need of medical attention."
A section of the A259, a major commuter road running through Brighton, Shoreham, and Worthing, was closed to facilitate the emergency response.
Witnesses described a significant presence of emergency vehicles and helicopters at the seafront. One resident, Shirley Pumfrey, described the scene as "horrific and quite scary to see that many." Another resident, Steve Chapman, noted that his road was cordoned off, preventing access. Despite warm weather, sea conditions were reportedly rough due to high winds.
