Three people have died after being pulled from the sea at Camber Sands.

Emergency services were called to the beach at 2.10pm on Wednesday (August 24) to reports of a person in the sea.

While they were on scene another person was seen in difficulty at 2.20pm and 15 minutes later a third person was rescued.

The three men, who have not yet been identified, died despite efforts to save them, Sussex Police said. 

Chief Superintendent Di Roskilly said officers were working with other agencies to clear the beach and encourage people to come out of the sea while they investigated. 

She added: "We are also asking people to stay away from Camber for the afternoon and evening to assist emergency services in managing this incident.

"This has been an incredibly tragic situation and very traumatic for those who were there on the beach at the time.

"At this stage we do not know who the men are and are doing all we can to establish their identities."

One eye-witness at Camber Sands, Natalja Taylor, 30, who was on a day-trip with her husband, said police were driving up the beach with a loudhailer urging people to stay out of the sea.

She said: "We were sat on a hill a bit further away and we saw three people being pulled out of the water. I think the people who rescued them were regular people, not emergency personnel.

"We don't know what condition they were in. There were so many people there. They were still on the beach when we left.

"Police drove on to the beach with a loudspeaker, telling people not to go into the water until further notice. They also taped off a huge chunk of the beach so no-one could get near it.

"It's pretty scary. I'm not sure how it happened. We decided not to go into the sea after seeing warning signs about some kind of fish. It wasn't particularly windy down there, it was just a hot, sunny beach day.

"There was a lot of people on the beach, particularly for a weekday. We're now just hoping that everyone involved is okay."

Last month 19-year-old Brazilian student Gustavo Silva Da Cruz died after getting into difficulty while swimming in the sea at Camber Sands.

A Rother District Council spokesman said it was too early to say what had caused the incident but added there had been a rise in people visiting the area who were unfamiliar with the dangers of the sea. 

He added: “Although it’s too early to draw any conclusions from this latest incident, in recent years we have seen a change in the make-up of visitors to Camber, including more people from outside the area who are not familiar with the sea and the dangers it can pose.

“This has included visitors entering the sea although they’re not able to swim and in some cases entering the water fully clothed.

"We will continue to work with the emergency services and other colleagues to do more in educating people of the dangers of the sea.”

He said beach patrols had been working with the emergency services at the scene this afternoon and would continue to provide whatever assistance is required.

He added: "While it’s very upsetting to see two similar, tragic incidents this summer, over the years these kind of incidents are extremely rare and on a fine day around 25,000 people use the beach safely.

“Our beach patrols are on site throughout the summer and are able to advise people of potential dangers, reunite lost children and deal with any incidents on the beach."