A father who died alongside two members of his family after they got into difficulty in the sea off Shoreham has been identified by the Palestinian Embassy in London as Hossam Al-Khawas, a Palestinian refugee from Lebanon.
Al-Khawas was from the Rashidieh Camp in southern Lebanon, according to the embassy.
He was one of three members of the same family who died following the incident close to Shoreham Fort in West Sussex on Tuesday afternoon.
A woman and a teenage girl also died, while a younger girl from the family was rescued from the water and remains in hospital in a critical condition.
The Palestinian Embassy has not confirmed the identities of the other family members or their exact relationships to Al-Khawas.
The identification provides the first confirmed name of one of those who died after the family got into difficulty in the water.
Emergency services were called at around 2.40pm on Tuesday following reports of four people in difficulty close to Shoreham Fort.
Sussex Police officers joined HM Coastguard, the RNLI and ambulance crews in a major emergency response, with all four members of the family eventually brought ashore.
Chief Superintendent James Collis said a man, a woman and a teenage girl were pronounced dead despite the efforts of paramedics.
A younger girl was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Police said the four were members of the same family and that their next of kin had been informed and were being supported by specialist officers.
Investigators have yet to establish exactly what led to the tragedy.
Sussex Police said their current understanding is that all four entered the water from land intending to swim before getting into difficulty.
Witness accounts have described difficult conditions around the area at the time, including strong winds and choppy water. Earlier claims that one of the children may have become caught in a fishing net have not been confirmed by police, and it remains unclear whether that played any role in the incident.
HM Coastguard completed an extensive search of the water following the emergency, and authorities have confirmed they are not searching for anybody else.
The RNLI said its Shoreham lifeboat was tasked at approximately 3pm, while Coastguard rescue teams and a Coastguard helicopter were also deployed. Two air ambulances and critical care resources were among the emergency response.
The Palestinian Embassy’s identification of Al-Khawas has also established the family’s connection to Rashidieh, one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
The camp is situated near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and has housed generations of Palestinian refugees.
The deaths have prompted expressions of grief within both the local Shoreham community and Britain’s Palestinian community.
Police enquiries are continuing to establish the full sequence of events in the water, while the younger girl remains critically ill in hospital.