Teenage girl and woman in her 40s found dead after several people got into difficulty off the coast of Essex

The West Mersea Coastguard Rescue Team described it as a 'tragic incident'

A teenage girl and a woman in her 40s have died after several people got into difficulty in the water off the Essex coast.

Emergency services were called at 5.35pm on Wednesday after reports of the dangerous situation in the water near Seaview Avenue in West Mersea, near Colchester.

A spokesman from Essex Police said in a Facebook post: "While we remain on scene, we would ask the public to avoid the Seaview Avenue and beach area.

"We appreciate that this will cause some local issues, but would ask for your patience and understanding as we may be there for some time yet."

Another person remains in hospital in a critical condition, with detectives believing all three people were known to each other.

Detective Chief Inspector at Essex Police Al Pitcher said: "Today, our thoughts remain with the family members who are coming to terms with their loss.

"We are grateful to the people who have already spoken to us and helped with our inquiries.

"We would ask anyone who was at the beach at the time, and who has not yet spoken with officers, to please get in touch, to help us understand what happened."

Officers confirmed two other people are in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage which may assist our investigation is asked to contact us on 101 and quote incident 1090."

A nearby caravan owner said: "The first we knew something was wrong was when we heard a helicopter overhead. I spoke to someone who saw the emergency services working on someone and pumping their chest on the beach.

"People were shouting, 'Come on you can do it'. They couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman."

West Mersea Coastguard Rescue Team said in a post on Facebook: 'We have responded to a tragic incident on West Mersea beach. Our thoughts are with the family involved."

Another eyewitness said: "We heard that the incident involved an Asian family. Children got into difficulty and adults went in the water after them, only to get into difficulty as well.

"Other people on the beach went into the water to try and help, but it looks like there were fatalities."