Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Three men drowned trying to rescue friends swept into sea
Three men drowned trying to rescue their two friends who got into trouble in the sea at Camber Sands.
The five young men from south east London all perished when they were sucked under the water after getting caught in a powerful current.
Despite desperate efforts from rescue teams to resuscitate the trio, who were pulled from the water shortly before 2.30pm last Wednesday, they were pronounced dead at the scene.
Later that evening the bodies of the two men who had originally got into trouble were discovered as the tide receded.
The victims have been named by police as 22-year-old Nitharsan Ravi from Plumstead, brothers 18-year-old Kenugen and 22-year-old Kobikanthan Saththiyanathan from Erith, Gurushanth Srithavarajah, 27, from Welling, and 23-year-old Inthushan Sriskantharasa from Grays.
A Sussex police spokesman said: “The men all travelled together to Camber for the day on Wednesday where they sadly died. Their deaths have now been passed to the coroner.”
It is understood the men, who moved to the UK from Sri Lanka with their families, tried swimming back to the shore but were worn out quickly by the strength of the current against them.
Witness statements collected after the tragedy suggested two of them were playing with a ball in the water but they were caught in a current which swept them out to sea.
Tributes have been paid to the young men. On what was the hottest day of the year so far it is estimated about 25,000 people were on the packed beach at the time.
The deaths came exactly a month after Brazilian tourist Gustavo Silva Da Cruz lost his life along the same stretch of beach.
Two other people were rushed to hospital after trying to rescue the 19-year-old, who was pronounced dead at the scene on July 24. A petition was launched after his death calling on Hastings MP Amber Rudd to introduce lifeguards at the beach.
That has now been signed by more than 7,000 people.
A spokesman for Rother District Council said regular assessments are carried out with the RNLI to establish what measures need to be taken to ensure the beach is safe.