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Men who died at Camber Sands were from London, police say

Chief Superintendent Di Roskilly says this “has been an incredibly tragic incident”.

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They were launched when someone reported a woman had gone for a swim and not returned.

On the petition, she said: “Camber Sands gets unbelievably busy during summer time”, adding: “I feel (they) could save lives”.

Police believe the victims were a group of men in their late teens and early twenties from Greater London, who had travelled to the beach together.

Lifeguards are to remain for the rest of the summer at a beach where five men died, the BBC has learned. Another young man was seen in difficulty and then a third person spotted, yet all three were pronounced dead a short time later.

The bodies of Ken Nathan and Mr Sri 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.

Rother councillor Sally-Ann Hart said safety was under constant review but Camber had been categorised as a safe beach.

The beach is watched by a council-funded team who are not allowed to rescue people in the sea.

“There are no deep shelves there and the beach is known to be very, very safe”, they told The Independent. Rother District Council estimate around 25,000 people use the beach every day when the weather is warm.

Just yesterday coastguards had to force a father back to shore after he took his young child out in an inflatable at Camber Sands despite safety warnings.

Mr Ravi’s family were “very angry” at the lack of response to the death of Brazilian Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, 19, at Camber last month. “It seems so unusual how they got into trouble”.

“I think it would be quite hard to have a lifeguard here with so many thousands of people here and such a large beach (but) I suppose it would be good to have a station here”.

The force’s Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said: “People need to understand that although the sun is shining and the sea is lovely to play in there are dangers there that you need to know about”.

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He said: “We are in regular discussion with emergency services and other colleagues to ensure that the measures now in place are sufficient and identify any additional measures that may need to be taken, either in terms of arrangements at the beach or doing more to educate people of the dangers of the sea”.

Sands on Wednesday August 24 by Philip Smith