Story highlights About 70 to 80 strangers formed a chain from the shore to reach the group

Rip currents at beaches in the US kill over 100 people each year

(CNN) A family stuck in a rip current narrowly avoided a tragedy when a crowd of strangers linked together to bring them back to land.

Nine beachgoers, including two children and an elderly woman, were trapped in the current at Panama City Beach in Florida on Saturday. Bystanders on the shore saw them yelling and waving their arms, and they jumped into action.

"I saw a group of people, a few at first, and then more and more, start forming a human chain," witness Rosalind Beckton told CNN.

The chain grew to around 70 to 80 strangers, all holding hands and stretching to reach the trapped group. All of the swimmers made it out.

How they got stuck

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