PPRT,
with bathers clearly occupying the beach, they could have opted to ditch
Or perhaps there appeared to be a clear patch of beach before or after where the bathers were but they misjudged the flightpath of the aircraft? And at what point did they recognise the bathers with respect to the last point at which they could have turned clear of them towards the water?
Whilst I accept that turning towards the water and ditching was an obvious viable option up to a certain point of the approach, there are several factors that could/would have affected their decision making which resulted in them adopting a flightpath which, sadly, resulted in these fatalities. They may have been grossly negligent but this could also have been an error of judgement.
This will be a difficult investigation because as far as we know there is no video of the complete approach, either onboard or external, and no FDR. As you say, whatever the outcome of the investigation, they will have to live with the consequences of their actions.