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The five men who drowned in the sea at Camber Sands were Londoners enjoying a day out at the beach, it emerged today.

The group, believed to be in their late teens and early 20s, had travelled to the popular holiday spot from the capital yesterday to enjoy the hottest day of the year.

It comes after speculation that the group may have been migrants after witnesses suggested they were pulled out of the sea fully-clothed.

One of the victims was named today as Nitharsan Ravi, 22. His father, speaking from the family home in Woolwich, fought back tears as he told how the family were too upset to talk.

A friend of his son, Jackson Bosco, wrote on Facebook: “Can’t believe to hear the news that you were one of the boys at #Cambersands. You were truly a good person with a good heart. You are going to be missed on this earth.”

A friend of the group, Thujee Jey, tweeted: “Why did God take 5 lives at once. RIP Nitharsan, Kuru, Kobi, Kenny and Indhusan. Can’t believe you are all gone.” She added: “RIP Kuru Anna ... I can’t believe this.

“When going to the beach please don’t go too deep.. Lives are too precious to be lost due to silly actions.”

Chief Superintendent Di Roskilly of Sussex Police said: “We believe we now know who the men are and that they came to the beach together for the day. We believe they are all in their late teens and early 20s and come from the Greater London area. These men were not fully clothed when they were pulled from the sea but wearing clothes appropriate for being at the beach for the day.”

He said officers were in touch with the men’s families, adding: “This has been an incredibly tragic incident and we are offering their next of kin support at this difficult time and our thoughts are with them,” he said.

There were dramatic scenes at the beach near Rye, East Sussex, as rescuers attempted to revive the men among an estimated 30,000 holidaymakers as the temperature hit 33.9C.

The first three of the group were pulled ashore after being spotted floating in the sea yesterday afternoon around 2:10pm. The bodies of two more men were discovered lying dead on the beach as the tide receded six hours later at around 8pm last night.

A helicopter search continued into the early hours today after reports of a sixth man apparently spotted floating on the tide. But police today confirmed there are no ongoing searches.

Witnesses told of the desperate efforts of coastguards and paramedics to revive the men.

Emma Rivers, who lives in Kent, was in the sea with her young nephew as the drama unfolded.

She said: “The helicopters were circling and my nephew was pretending to ‘shark spot’.

“He noticed a black spot in the sea and we stared at it for a while. We watched it bob up and down and get closer, only to realise we were looking at a body. It was very distressing.

“The helicopters then began to search where we were looking but we could no longer see it. There was something on the person’s back but we don’t know what it was.”

Hannah Chatfield, from Coulsdon in Surrey, said: “We were on the beach when someone was pulled out, and about half an hour later a woman came up shouting saying there were more people in water.

“The lifeguards were busy with the person they had already dragged out so me and about seven other people, including a lifeguard, all ran down to the water.

“We swam over to him and dragged him up on to the sand. I think he was in his 30s. Then the medics started doing CPR on him and the others and that went on for quite a while but in the end I think they had to give up.”

Medics used windbreaks to shield their work as the men’s bodies were placed on stretchers and loaded into ambulances to be driven away.

Bizarrely, the police issued a statement ruling out jellyfish as a cause of the tragedy, saying: “In no way is this jellyfish related.”

There were reports today that the men were of Sri Lankan descent.

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

The deaths bring the toll to 12 in less than a week as people head for the coast at the tail end of the school holidays.