A woman and her 15-year-old daughter who died after getting into difficulty in the water on the Essex coast were trying to help a seven-year-old boy, police have said.
The child remains in a critical condition in hospital after the incident at West Mersea near Colchester on Wednesday evening. Three others were taken to hospital.
The victims have been named by a family member as Shally Rahman, 41, and teenager Samiha Rahman. Police said all the people involved knew each other.
Shally’s brother-in-law Matiur Rahman said the family was enjoying a seaside holiday when a “big wave came and took them”.
“My whole family, we are, like, speechless,” said Matiur Rahman, who used to live in Bradford, but spoke to the BBC from Bangladesh.
“We are very shocked. We can’t explain [what has happened].”
He said his niece was a “very, very good person” and his sister-in-law was “a very helpful person”.