Camber Sands sea death toll rises to five

Two more bodies have been found on the beach at Camber Sands in East Sussex, UK, hours after three men were pulled from the water on the hottest day of the year.

A member of the public found the two bodies as the tide receded at about 8:00pm on Wednesday.

According to the BBC, a search is under way for a third person who has gone missing from the beach. Lifeboats and a helicopter are reportedlycombing the water off the coast.

Seven other people have died around the British coastline since Friday.

Richard Tollett, lifeboat operations manager at Rye Harbour, told the Press Association the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) received a request to launch at around 8:30pm.

"As the tide has receded it has left a couple more bodies on the beach in the sand,” he said. "A member of the public found them and that person reported another one in the water so we have got two lifeboats and a helicopter searching the area trying to find the other one."

The first alert is said to have come just after 2:10pm when coastguard helicopters, a lifeboat, rescue teams and an air ambulance were sent to the scene after reports three men were in need of urgent medical assistance.