THE family of a University of Brighton student who drowned at Camber Sands alongside four friends have spoken of their devastation.

Nitharsan Ravi, 22, drove his four childhood friends to the beach where it is believed the group was caught by the tide coming into sand bars where they were.

The RNLI has said the men fell into deep channels of water between sand bars - mounds of sand created by wave and tide activity - which had been made deeper from recent storms.

Yesterday, his brother, Ajirthan Ravi, 19, told The Argus: "We believe two of them got their legs caught in a huge pile of sinking sand. My brother and his friend tried to help them but it did not work out.

"Last night we had a call to say that police had found my brother's car and that they had found dead bodies.

"We are distraught. It's so unreal, really dreadful.

"He was a great guy and gave us so much to remember. He was very motivated.

"His friends were also friends to me so it is a huge loss.

"We are really upset about how he looks - he looks like he has just been sleeping."

Tributes were also paid yesterday to the four others who died: Fellow University of Brighton student Kobi Nathan, who studied accounting and finance; his brother Kenigan Nathan; and their friends Inthushan Sri and Kurushanth Srithavarajah.

They were from London and in their late teens and early twenties.

Aeronautical engineering student Nitharsan was pulled from the sea along with two of his friends by fellow beachgoers.

The bodies of the other two men washed up on the beach later that evening.

His brother, speaking from the family's home in Greenwich, said Nitharsan could swim and called on authorities to make sure there were lifeguards on the beach.

He said: "There are not any lifeguards - that is the biggest issue here. But you have to be equal - you can both blame them for not knowing their limits but at the same time it's their fault for not having lifeguards.

"It's very important to have lifeguards. Especially on that beach which is one of the most famous beaches."

He said his brother loved playing football, cricket and other sports, and hoped to become an engineer.

The tragedy comes just a month after 19-year-old Brazilian Gustavo Silva da Cruz drowned while swimming at the beach.

Four years ago 29-year-old Tanzeela Ajmal drowned after being dragged under by a rip-tide while paddling in shallow water.

Last night there were calls for Rother District Council to put money made from beach car park charges and beach business rates to fund lifeguards.

Graham Maynard, who runs a deck chair and parasol hire hut on the beach, said: “Surely saving lives is more important than council cuts.”

A council spokeswoman said: “Regular assessments of Camber beach are carried out in conjunction with the RNLI to ensure the area is safe. These checks have not, to date, identified the need for lifeguards."

She added: “Income from the car parks at Camber beach is used to maintain and improve the area for the thousands of people who visit the beach."

WHAT BEGAN AS A GREAT DAY TURNED INTO ONE OF TRAGEDY IN A FLASH

IT was a perfect day for the beach. Temperatures were teetering on 30 degrees but a gentle breeze wafted over Camber Sands making it ideal.

Roof rack-topped cars packed to the brim with all manner of provisions snaked their way along the A259 to the inevitable queue for the beach car park in Old Lydd Road.

It was not long before the overflow field was full too as up to 30,000 people crowded on to the seven-mile stretch of sand.

On went the hats, out came the sun cream and before long the coastline was dotted with sandcastles, picnic blankets and wind breaks.

The bravest tentatively dipped their toes in the water – pleasantly surprised to find it quite warm, shallow and calm enough for a dip.

A happier English seaside scene you could not imagine.

That was until just after 2pm.

A group of five friends had has been playing football on a sandbank when one of their group was washed into the water.

Within minutes two more friends were in trouble. The alarm was raised and nearby holiday makers rushed to their aid. Next came the paramedics who battled in vain as the Ccoastguard and police attempted to move people out of the sea.

A day which started with such joy ended in confusion, shock and fear as two more bodies washed ashore.

Beachgoers were fewer in number yesterday but swimmers still took to the water with inflatable animals and other objects.

Children shrieked with delight playing games but as a humid mist hung over the beach a sombre hush lingered in the air.

This was a tragedy that many feel could have been prevented with clearer warnings of the dangers.

A group of women who were visiting for the day from Essex said more information was needed.

Andrea Smith, 41, of Upminster, said: “I only heard about the deaths this morning after we’d got up really early to come down here.

“When we stopped in a petrol station nearby a woman warned us that the beach could be closed.

“I think part of it is that so many people are choosing to stay in the UK for their holiday rather than going abroad and the beaches are getting busier and with more people from other areas.

“I was in Norfolk last week and they are so clued up along the beaches there and they had lifeguards.”

Nikita Chauhan, 33, of Romford, who was with her three-year-old daughter Keira, said: “There doesn’t seem to be a regular patrol near the water’s edge and I think they could do with another Jeep because the beach patrol is right at the top and so far from the sea when the tide is out.”

Asha Sharma, 29, of Chigwell, said: “There are not enough signs here about where is safest to swim or what to watch out for. I think the day after these deaths there should have been information about what happened and if people should be swimming, where and how to be safe.”

Graham Maynard, 60, has rented deck chairs and parasols on the beach for 25 years and lives nearby.

In his time he said he has only ever seen three deaths at the beach.

Wednesday’s tragedy came exactly a month after a man drowned there and four years after a woman drowned at the beach.

Mr Maynard said: “I’m a little bit stunned. I’m a cheerful sort of person but I must admit I didn’t sleep very well last night thinking about it all. When I left the beach at 7pm it was three bodies and then I heard the helicopter overhead once I got home and heard about two more, I just kept thinking this can’t be happening.

“This is one of the safest beaches I know. When my son was younger I never had to watch him but the beach has changed over the years. It used to be completely flat and now there are sand beds everywhere. People think they are completely safe and then the tide comes round them quite fast. Before you know it the water which was around your ankles is waist deep.

“So many people come here now, and a lot who are not local. We must respect the sea.

“There is absolutely no way, when the tide is out, that you can see from this far away if someone is in difficulty. It takes about five minutes to walk down there.

“The beach patrol and Ccoastguard staff here are brilliant but they need more help – we need lifeguards.

“With the amount of money the council makes from the car park and beach business rates it would not cost much to employ three qualified lifeguards, that’s all they would need. “It should never have happened but it always takes a tragedy. Something has to change. We hope all the news coverage will prompt this. It will make families feel safer or they are not going to come here.”

RIP TIDES NOT THE ONLY SEA DANGER SAYS EX-LIFEGUARD

A FORMER lifeguard has told how the sea can be deadly – even when it looks placid and calm.

Adam Chinnery, who used to be a lifeguard at Camber Sands, explained that rip tides are not the only killer off Sussex’s beaches.

He said: “It’s a fast flowing beach. It’s a sandy beach and the bay itself undulates quite a bit.

“Especially when we’ve had big storms come through like we have of late, you’ll have seen a lot of sand movement which leads to unpredictable and unknown channels.

“Even if you were local you would only just have got to know them.”

Mr Chinnery, who now runs Brighton Watersports, in Kings Road Arches, added: “You can go from waist deep to over your head in the space of a few feet and it changes rapidly.

“You see at low tide, the tide comes in quickly because it’s a long shallow beach and it comes in these channels first.

“If you’re out and waist deep and on a sandbank the sea can come in around you.

“The Sussex tides can be strong. The RNLI is saying there was no rip tide but even if that beach doesn’t have any rips it’s still a long beach so you’ve got long shore drifts, as well that water moving in and around the channels quickly.”

He said that, especially as the tide starts to come in, inexperienced swimmers can quickly find themselves pushed a long way down the beach by the tide.

He joined calls for lifeguards at the popular spot.

He said: “It is a busy beach, I think it should have lifeguards. We all know local council budgets are tight – but there shouldn’t be value put on lives.

“These weren’t the first deaths there and they would have had two more, fifteen years ago, had I not been there.

“I was the only one there and I pulled two kids on to my windsurf board. They were vomiting up salt water when I got them on my board. They were just minutes away from drowning.”