FOUR DEAD IN SEA HORRORS
Girl ‘critical’ after wave tragedy
A FATHER was killed and his daughter critically injured when they were swept into the sea during a family holiday.
The man, his wife and their three children were hit by a 10ft wave as they stood on rocks at a beach in Cornwall.
The two-year-old girl is believed to be fighting for her life in hospital after she was rescued from the water at Fistral Beach, Newquay.
The incident was one in a series off the coast of the UK. Another two died and several others were rushed to hospital after getting into trouble swimming in Aberdeen.
The alarm there was raised around 4.45pm yesterday after three people, understood to be a mother and her two sons, got into trouble while playing in the water on the beachfront. And a windsurfer died in an accident off the Essex coast as high winds battered the seas.
The victim, a Colchester man in his 60s, was flown by air ambulance to hospital from Mersea Island but was dead on arrival.
In Newquay, police said the man’s two other children managed to get back to the rocks and suffered minor injuries and shock.
Lifeguards rescued his wife using a jet ski while the man and child were recovered by a lifeboat.
The father, in his 30s, and the girl were airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, where the man was pronounced dead.
The family, from Surrey, had been confronted by “extreme” conditions during the tragedy on Friday, the Falmouth Coastguard said. Spokesman James Instance said: “We went through a 24-hour period where the waves went from half a metre to three to four metres.
“You are probably looking at 10ft breaking waves in this area.
“I think eventually that when they were found they were 50 to 60 metres off in what were absolutely treacherous conditions.”
Newquay Coastguard Rescue Team, two RNLI lifeboats, a Coastguard helicopter, police and paramedics attended the rescue. Eyewitness Grant Purvis said: “This was heartbreaking to watch this afternoon. Goes to show the real power of the water we all love.”
Last night Det Con Jarrod Yewen said relatives had not yet been informed and the victim had not been formally identified, adding: “This is a tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the family.”