Speaking about today’s incident, a Sussex Police spokesman said: “Three people have been pulled from the sea at Camber Sands on Wednesday (August 24)”.
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Three victims were pulled from the sea off the East Sussex beach on Tuesday afternoon and emergency services tried and failed to revive them in front of thousands of horrified holidaymakers. In the evening two more bodies were discovered.
“This has been an incredibly tragic incident and we are offering their next of kin support at this hard time and our thoughts are with them”.
A woman died on Sunday off Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, the same day a man drowned in the English seaside town of Poole.
‘The lifeguards were busy with the person they had already dragged out so me and about seven other people, including a lifeguard, all ran down to the water. They were still on the beach when we left.
Police remained on the beach as day-trippers said they were surprised there were no lifeguards present.
She told the Press Association: “We were sat on a hill a bit further away and we saw three people being pulled out of the water”.
Up to 25,000 people can be found on the beach at its most popular periods, said a Rother District Council spokesperson.
“The three men, who have not yet been identified, sadly died despite efforts to save them”.
The charity also said it is continuing to search for a sixth person still believed to be missing in the water.
Sussex Police have said it was not yet known who the men were or if they knew one another.
Britain’s heat wave has come during the school holidays and prompted authorities including the country’s lifeboat charity (RNLI) to issue safety advice.
A dozen people have died in water-related accidents off British coastlines in recent days.
He said incidents had included visitors entering the sea even though they could not swim, and in some cases going into the water fully clothed.
Chief Superintendent Di Roskilly said: “This has been an incredibly tragic situation”.
Last month, Brazilian Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, 19, died after getting into difficulty while swimming in the sea there.
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A mother and son died on Saturday after a rescue operation at Aberdeen beach, while a windsurfer in his 60s died in a Colchester hospital after being rescued off the coast of West Mersea, Essex.
