Man who died saving child at West Wittering is named

THE man who died saving a five-year-old girl drifting out to sea at West Wittering has been named.

The hero, who was pronounced dead at the busy beach on Saturday lunchtime, was 32-year old Plamen Petkova, of Westmoreland Drive, Sutton, Surrey.

A Bulgarian national, Mr Petkova died after he went to the aid of a young girl from London, along with another woman. He managed to get the girl safely to the woman - who got her to shore - but he was recovered unconscious from the sea.

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Despite efforts by members of the public and emergency services to resuscitate he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A postmortem held today (Tuesday) at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester found the cause of death to be drowning, and an inquest has now been formally opened and adjourned.

A Sussex Police spokesman said; “It is clear that this was a tragic accident, and there is no further police investigation.

“There will be a coroner’s inquest at a later date yet to be set.”