{
  "id": 2124399,
  "title": "School pays tribute to girl who drowned alongside Palestinian parents in UK",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/school-pays-tribute-to-girl-who-drowned-alongside-palestinian-parents-2124399",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-20T10:51:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National Business",
    "slug": "the-national-business",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/08/20/school-pays-tribute-to-girl-who-drowned-alongside-palestinian-parents-in-uk/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A 14-year-old girl, Sara El Khawas, tragically drowned while swimming with her Palestinian parents in the UK. Her father, Hassan El Khawas, was 55, and her mother, Zeina Alayn, was 37. Their other daughter, Saja, survived the incident and is in critical condition in the hospital. Mr. Al Khawas was born in the Rashidieh refugee camp in Lebanon, and the family had reportedly lived in west London for over a decade. The Palestinian embassy in the UK believed that all family members held British citizenship. Sara attended Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in Ealing, where the school paid tribute to her in a statement, describing her as \"sweet\" and \"well-liked.\" The school expressed deep sorrow and conveyed their condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. Nehad Khanfar, head of the Association of Palestinians Communities in the UK, confirmed that the family was active members of the British Palestinian community. The community is deeply affected by the tragedy and plans to organize a condolence event after the burial. A postmortem examination is required before the bodies can be laid to rest. The incident occurred when the family visited Shoreham in West Sussex, where they entered the water from the beach at Shoreham Fort around 2 pm on Tuesday afternoon before facing difficulties. Sussex Police stated that the family traveled from their home in London to Shoreham to visit relatives. Chief Superintendent James Collis described the events as a heartbreaking tragedy that profoundly impacted the Shoreham community.",
  "summary": "The school attended by a girl who drowned alongside her Palestinian parents in the UK has paid tribute to the “sweet” and “well-liked” student. Sara El Khawas, 14, died after getting into difficulty in the sea at Shoreham on Tuesday afternoon, along with her father, Hassan El Khawas, 55, and her 37-year-old mother, Zeina Alayn. The couple's other daughter, Saja, was rescued and remains in a…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}