The five men who died at a Sussex beauty spot yesterday (Wednesday, August 24) came to the beach together from London and were all young adults, police said.
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Nitharsan’s brother Ajirthan Ravi has said that the five friends, who knew each other since they were five, went in the auto yesterday to Camber Sands on a day trip on one of the hottest days of the year.
Four of the five men – who are aged in their late teens and early 20s and from London – have been named locally as Nitharsan Ravi, Inthushan Sri, and Kobi and Ken Nathan.
Two more bodies have been pulled out of the sea at Camber Sands, hours after three men drowned on the hottest day of the year.
According to his Facebook profile, Mr Ravi started studying in Brighton in September 2013.
It was feared a sixth person was missing but there was no search operation at the beach on Thursday and day-trippers were continuing to arrive.
It is the second time a serious incident has taken place recently at Camber Sands.
A petition to have lifeguards, of which there are now none, put in place at Camber Sands has attracted more than 3,500 signatures in under a day.
Steve Hudson, who has a beach hut nearby said: ‘We were out when it happened but we saw the search later.
Mr Ravi’s brother said his brother died after trying to rescue two of his friends who had become trapped beneath the water.
The bodies of Ken and Mr Sriskantharasa were discovered later that evening, he said, adding that he thought they had got their legs caught in the “slippery mud” and sand on the seabed.
A Rother District Council spokesman said: “We very much welcome and appreciate the support the RNLI are offering to provide a temporary lifeguard service”.
While it is not clear how the accident unfolded, one theory was that the men had been playing football on a sandbar before being cut off by a strong tide on what was the hottest day of the year in Britain.
The five deaths have prompted fresh calls for a lifeguard to be stationed at Camber Sands during the summer. Their relatives criticised the lack of lifeguards at the beach, saying that it could have saved Inthushan Sri, …
There are no lifeguards at the Sussex beach to protect swimmers.
But within minutes of entering the water two of the men got into difficulties and the other three went to try to help them.
The friends may have been pulled to their deaths by the powerful riptide but Sussex Police is yet to say why they think the men got in trouble, leading to concerns from beachgoers about their own safety.
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