The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Families’ fury over safety after deaths
Five youths killed at beach
The family of one of five young friends who died during a beach day-trip have questionedwhysafety measures were not brought in following another man’s death last month.
Relatives of Nitharsan Ravi, 22, said they felt “very angry” at the lack of responsefromthe authorities following the death of Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, 19, at Camber Sands, near Rye, East Sussex.
MrRavi died onWednesday along with four other men – all aged in their late teens and early 20s and from London. The men, who have been named locally, include Inthushan Sri, brothers Kobi and Ken Nathan and a man named only as Kurushanth.
Clutching her brother’s T-shirt, Mr Ravi’s sister Mayura sobbed as she remembered how he always looked out for her.
And the 17-year-old said the family felt anger that the stretch of beach where they died had not been blocked off following Mr Da Cruz’s death last month.
She said: “Now it’s been blocked. Why didn’t they do it before? They could have saved lives.”
Mr Rav i ’ s younger five other brother, Ajirthan, 19, said: “There wasn’t any lifeguards cruising around.
“Because they would have quickly noticed these boys drowning, and could have at least saved their lives.”
He said his brother had died after trying to rescue two of his friends who had become trapped underneath the water.
He said attempts failed and Kurushanth was brought out first and declared dead straight away.
“My bro and Kobi had heartbeats and managed to survive for a few minutes but after first aid they couldn’t recover.”
Both died within 15 minutes after being pulled from the water, he said.
The bodies of Ken Nathan and Inthushan 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 sea bottom.
An online petition started a month ago to campaign for lifeguards at Camber has reached more than 3,600 signatures.