Girls killed in flats plunge

One girl died in Southend Hospital

Two teenage girls have been found dead at a block of flats in Essex after apparently falling from the 11th floor.

The girls, who were 16 and 18, are believed to have plunged 120 feet from a window in the stairwell of the flats in Southend on Sunday morning.

Ambulance crews were called to Cecil Court in Jones Close at about 0320 GMT.

One girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other was taken to Southend General Hospital, but died shortly after.

Vital information

The girls, who have not been formally identified, are not thought to have lived in the flats.

Police are trying to establish the chain of events which led to the two teenagers falling to their deaths.

The incident is not being treated as a suspicious, but police would like to talk to two people who were in the area.

Officers hope to trace a man who spoke to the ambulance crew and directed them to the scene. He is white, in his mid-20s, about 5 ft 10 in tall and of stocky build.

Officers believe the occupant of a car seen driving away shortly after emergency services arrived at the scene could also have vital information.