Saja El-Khawas , a six-year-old girl, passed away in the hospital days after a drowning tragedy at Shoreham-by-Sea. She is the final member of her family to perish following an accident that claimed the lives of her parents and older sister.
The Deaths of Hassan, Zeina, Sara, and Saja
The tragedy has claimed an entire nuclear family: Hassan El-Khawas, 55, Zeina Alayn,37, their 14-year-old daughter Sara, and six-year-old Saja. While the older three family members died shortly after the incident, Saja remained in critical condition for several days before succumbing to her injuries. According to the report, these details were confirmed by the Palestinian Forum in Britain and a law firm representing the hospital where Saja was treated.
The loss of Sara has been particularly felt by her school community, where teachers and classmates described her as a "sweet girl" who was well-liked. The sudden erasure of a family unit in a single afternoon has left a profound void in both their local London neighborhood and the wider Palestinian-British community.
A Fishing Net at Shoreham-by-Sea
The incident was sparked when one of the children became entangled in a fishing net while the family was visiting the coast.. As the report says, eyewitnesses observed the struggle, and a fisherman was able to pull one of the children from the water before alerting emergency services . However, the rescue efforts were not enough to save the family.
This specific detail—the presence of a fishing net in a swimming or visiting area—raises significant questions about the safety of the shoreline at Shoreham-by-Sea. While the fisherman's quick action saved one child momentarily, the entanglement created a chaotic scene that led to the subsequent drownings of the parents and both daughters.
Ten Years in a Northwest London Council Flat
The El-Khawas family were British citizens of Palestinian origin who had built a stable, warm life in northwest London. They had resided in a first-floor, two-bedroom council flat for a decade, where neighbors remember them as a close-knit and welcoming family. Hassan El-Khawas worked as a builder and was described by those in his community as being well-liked.
This tragedy echoes a recurring pattern of "day-trip disasters," where families from urban centers like London travel to the coast for leisure, only to encounter unpredictable maritime hazards. For a family that had spent ten years establishing roots in their London community, a simple excursion to the seaside resulted in a total family collapse, highlighting the fragility of such outings when safety hazards are present.
Why Police Rule Out Third-Party Involvement
Police investigators have stated that they believe the drownings were a "tragic accident," and as the source notes, there is currently no evidence of third-party involvement.. While the investigation remains officially open, the focus has shifted away from criminal negligence and toward the accidental nature of the fishing net entanglement.
Despite this, several critical points remain unverified. It is not yet clear who owned the fishing net that caused the entanglement or whether the net was legally placed in an area accessible to the public . Furthermore,the report does not specify if there were adequate warning signs regarding fishing gear or currents at that specific stretch of the Shoreham-by-Sea coast, leaving a gap in the understanding of how such a hazard existed in a public space.
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