Boy who drowned in West Mersea suffered brain injury, court told

A seven-year-old boy suffered a fatal brain injury after he got into difficulty off the Essex coast, a coroner has said.

Musa Ahmed died six days after the incident in West Mersea, in which his 15-year-old cousin, Sameeha Rahman, and her mother, Shelina, 41, also died.

They were all enjoying a day out to the island, near Colchester, from east London when the tragedy unfolded on 22 July.

Their provisional causes of death were all given as drowning at an inquest opening in Chelmsford, while Musa also died from a hypoxic ischaemic brain injury.

“Clearly it is so tragic to come across the death of any individual,” said Lincoln Brookes, the senior coroner for Essex.

“But when three occur at the same time and all from the same family, one cannot understand the tragic nature of such an incident.”

Three others were taken to hospital by ambulance after the incident and are said to be recovering.