Six-year-old girl dies after British-Palestinian family drowning tragedy

• Entire Palestinian family killed in sea tragedy.
• Police say incident appears to be accidental.
• British-Palestinian community mourns family from London.

A six-year-old Palestinian-British girl has died in hospital days after her parents and teenage sister drowned off the coast of West Sussex, bringing the total casualties from the family tragedy to four.

Sussex Police confirmed that Saja El-Khawas passed away on Friday after being admitted in critical condition on Tuesday afternoon.

The girl’s father, Hassan El-Khawas (55), mother Zeina Alayn (37), and 14-year-old sister Sara El-Khawas died at the scene near Shoreham Fort after getting into difficulty in the water.

"This heartbreaking update is one we all feared in the aftermath of Tuesday's tragic events," stated Chief Superintendent James Collis of Sussex Police, as reported by Your Local Guardian. "I cannot imagine the devastation felt by the wider family of Hassan, Zeina, Sara and Saja after this loss."

Tragic beach outing amid nationwide heatwave

The London-based family had traveled to the West Sussex coast for a day trip to seek relief during a heatwave affecting the United Kingdom.

Emergency service personnel, supported by the RNLI and HM Coastguard, rescued all four individuals from the water around 2:40 PM on Tuesday.

Authorities confirmed that following an initial review of CCTV footage and witness accounts, the incident is being treated as a tragic accident with no third-party involvement.

Community tributes 

As reported by The National News, Hassan El-Khawas originally arrived in the UK as a refugee from the Rashidieh camp in southern Lebanon—one of the largest Palestinian refugee camps in the region.

Community organizations, including the Palestinian Forum in Britain and the Association of Palestinians Communities in the UK, expressed deep shock and organized support for the surviving extended family.