Girl, 6, dies after going into sea at Margate

Local man says beach was 'heaving' with tourists when incident took place

People on the beach in Margate, Kent (PA)

A six-year-old has died after she went into the sea at the seaside town of Margate.

The girl, from southeast London, was taken to hospital on Saturday afternoon after entering the water.

A local man said the beach was “heaving” with tourists on what he described as a warm but windy day.

He said he saw the emergency services “swarm” the harbour in their effort to rescue the girl.

The father-of-three, who did not want to give his name, said he found the incident “very upsetting”.

He added: “It makes me want to avoid going in the water.”

The South East Coast Ambulance Service and the RNLI were part of the rescue effort.

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said the girl had been taken to the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in a serious condition.

Kent Police confirmed in a statement on Sunday that she had died.

The force added: “Her next of kin have been informed.

“There are no suspicious circumstances and a report is being prepared for the coroner.”

It is the latest death in recent days concerning people in difficulty in water.

Two bodies were recovered on Saturday in separate incidents.

The body of a 15-year-old teenager, provisionally named as Ben Quartermaine, was found near Clacton Pier in Essex after a search which began on Thursday.

In Bedfordshire the body of a man in his late twenties was recovered from the Great Ouse river after reports someone had got into difficulty there on Friday afternoon.

Agencies contributed to this report