He spoke of an attempt to save a woman and mother who drowned in the West Mersey

A day tripper has told the BBC how he waded into the water to save a drowning mother and daughter off an Essex beach.

Craig Bowe, 42, battled the storm in West Mercia, near Colchester, after hearing screams on Wednesday evening.

The kitchen diner, who was on a day trip from Hertfordshire to celebrate his daughter’s 10th birthday, managed to pull Shali and Samiha Rahman out of the storm and helped the seven-year-old boy into a lifeboat.

Despite the efforts, the pair – 41 and 15 – 41. He died trying hard to bring his son to the beach.

The boy, who was arrested on a family day out in Barking, east London, was airlifted to hospital and remained in a critical condition on Friday.

Three others were taken by ambulance to another hospital after the incident at around 17:35 BST.

Bowe, of Northtown; into action After hearing someone screaming in the water and bodies floating.

“When I got there, the first two people were facing each other, so[it was]harder than I thought at first,” he told the BBC.

Bowe pulled Shali Rahman to shore and bystanders began administering CPR. He then returned to the sea to save her son.

After doing so, he returned to the water to help the seven-year-old and another boy onto a lifeboat about 150 yards (137 m) out to sea.

Bowe, who was helped by an unnamed man, said, “He was down on the front, so I helped him shoot over the boat. . . .”

“The wave was hitting me in the face. The current was definitely stronger.”