A 14-year-old girl drowned today after getting into difficulties in the sea close to Clacton Pier.
The teenager was pulled from the water, along with two other youngsters from her family at about 1.40pm today.
She was given CPR and remained in a critical condition in hospital, where she later died.
Police said an 18-year-old male relative, who was also rescued is critical in hospital while a girl, 15, who is also related is expected to make a full recovery.
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The beach in Clacton, Essex, where a 14-year-old girl was pulled from the sea before dying in hospital
The Clacton air ambulance transporting the teenager to hospital, where she later died
Witnesses described lifeguards attempting CPR before paramedics arrived, while some called for more signs warning of the dangers of swimming.
The incident comes one year after a 15-year-old boy drowned near the pier.
Acting Detective Superintendent Paul Wells said: ‘At this early stage, we believe that three teenagers got into difficulty at sea and were recovered from the water, close to Clacton Pier.
‘A teenage boy and girl were taken to hospital in a critical condition.
‘Of these, a 14-year-old girl has died in hospital, an 18-year-old man is stable but remains in a critical condition, and a 15-year-old girl is expected to make a full recovery.
‘The three casualties are related. Immediate family members have been informed and are at hospital.’
Emergency services said they were called at about 1.40pm after three people were pulled from the water at Marine Parade.
In total, five people were treated at the scene, including the three teenagers and two others who did not need hospital treatment.
Several members of the public also helped the rescue efforts.
Witness Becky Bryant, 40, told PA: ‘I saw two people being pulled from the sea and lifeguards trying to do CPR until the paramedics turned up.
‘Everyone tried to take turns doing the CPR while the lifeboat went out again and retrieved the third person, who seemed not to be in such a bad way.
‘It was so distressing, everyone was trying to do what they could – lifeguards, air ambulance, they truly worked as a team.’
The carer, from Wivenhoe, said the victims were with a group of about 30 people.
Karen Jones, also 40, a counsellor from Tendring, described the incident as ‘tragic’, adding: ‘As a parent, I would like to see more signage warning of dangers.’
Three air ambulance critical care teams, three ambulance crews and rapid response paramedics were called out, along with HM Coastguard and an RNLI lifeboat.
Police near Clacton Pier, where three swimmers were pulled from the sea after getting into difficulty this afternoon
Officers were scrambled to the tourist hotspot at 1.40pm after the three were recovered from the water and given CPR
Stuart Elms, clinical director at Essex and Herts Air Ambulance said: ‘All the emergency services present worked together to provide best care for the patients.’
DS Wells added: ‘We are continuing to support the family at this unimaginably difficult time and are working closely with our partners.
‘We would like to thank members of the public and our emergency service colleagues who responded really quickly and worked incredibly hard to help the teenagers.
‘We would also like to thank members of the public who showed respect to the casualties and their families and who gave the emergency services space to work.
‘We thank you for your support as we work to establish what happened.’
All three of the teenagers were taken to Colchester General Hospital.
The East of England Ambulance Service said its first responder arrived at the beach in less than seven minutes.
Coastguard also assisted with the rescue, which happened near to where a 15-year-old boy drowned last year
Neil Stock, Conservative leader of Tendring District Council, told the BBC the seafront is ‘immensely popular’ in summer.
He added: ‘It’s the school holidays, we’ve had terrific weather and you just don’t expect this sort of tragedy to take place in a place that is beautiful, attractive and people go there to have fun and enjoy themselves.’
In July 2018, Ben Quartermaine, 15, from Clacton-on-Sea, died after he got into difficulty in water near the pier.
His body was found after a two-day search by emergency services.