Mr Ravi, 22, and four of his friends from Bexleyheath had travelled to Camber Sands for the day yesterday when the accident happened.
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Five men who drowned at a British beach were in their late teens and early 20s and from Greater London, police believe.
Relatives have criticised the lack of lifeguards, suggesting their loved ones may have survived if the beach was manned. The men, who have been named locally, include Inthushan Sri, brothers Kobi and Ken Nathan and a man named only as Kurushanth. The beach is around 80 miles southeast of London.
Kenigan and Inthushan had become trapped in quicksand under water and the other three swam over to try and rescue them, but they were overwhelmed.
Milly, whose family have visited that beach every year for the last 16 years, said: “We are deeply saddened for the lives lost and our thoughts go out to them and their families”.
He described his brother as a “supportive” and “very talented” man who would be missed by many.
Nitharsan Ravi from Plumstead. “It doesn’t feel real”.
They say it’s one of the safest beaches in Britain but it’s a lie, Nitharsan and his friends are dead.
“We would like to send our thoughts to all those affected by such a awful series of events – both loved ones of the victims and those who helped in the operation as a whole”. My mum has gone to visit his family now.
Five men died in the sea tragedy near Rye in East Sussex on Wednesday.
Emergency services were called to the beach at 2.10pm to reports of a person in difficulty in the sea.
KentOnline understands the woman was seen going into the water at 7.40am but the alarm was raised around 40 minutes later and they were not seen after entering the water.
Two coastguard shore teams had also been sent to search the area.
An RNLI spokesperson said the search for the “potentially missing swimmer” was being co-ordinated by Sussex Police and the coastguard, and that their lifeguards were keeping watch from the beach with binoculars.
Hannah Chatfield helped drag one of the men out of the water.
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“The sea may look appealing and the RNLI would encourage people to use it, but do so safely – it can be dangerously unpredictable”, a spokeswoman said. “We were on the beach for about 45 minutes trying to resuscitate him but it didn’t work”.
