Dad describes last sighting of girl swept to sea

The father of a seven-year-old girl from Lancashire who was swept out to sea in Morocco has said the water surrounded them "extremely fast" as he described his last sighting of her.

Inaayah Makda, from Blackburn, was sitting with her parents on rocks at a Casablanca beach when they were hit by a large wave on 28 January.

Her father Zubair Makda said the sea had enclosed the family "within seconds" and "our only safe place" was to get to height on the rocks.

He said he glanced at Inaayah "and that was my last sight of her" and then the water came and "took us out".

In a post on social media, Zubair said Inaayah went missing on the first day of a five-day holiday.

The family had landed in Rabat before travelling to Casablanca for two days to visit a mosque before heading back to Rabat and then home.

He said he was praying at a nearby cafe and then he went to look for his wife and daughter.

"I found them on the beach and they were at the furthest rocks just next to the sand," he said.

"It was at least 50 to 60 metres to where the shoreline was.

"They were standing in the safe zone."

As he reached the rocks, he said "suddenly within seconds water came gushing, extremely fast and it surrounded us and it came behind us".

"We had nowhere to go. Our only safe place was the rocks. So we stood on the rocks. Half a metre to a metre high," he said.

"I looked at Inaayah and I glanced at her and that was my last sight of her.

"Within seconds the water came and took us out.

"As I was focussing on my position on the rock and making sure she was okay and in the right place high enough to be safe, the water came from the other side and took us out."

Zubair said he was in the water for "over a minute", adding: "I felt like I was going to die that day".

"I must have crashed into another rock and that allowed me to get up," he said.

He said he then saw his wife Tasneem and pulled her from the sea.

"As soon as I got her out we were looking for Inaayah straight away," he said.

"And we couldn't find her. And at that point it was devastating."

The search for Inaayah, which had been hampered by weather, was called off by authorities in Morocco at the end of February.

Zubair thanked everyone who had supported the family and helped in the search for the "bright, loving and gentle little girl".

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.