TWO young boys have drowned in a seaside tragedy at Glenelg.

Emergency services and surf life savers responded to a call of children in difficulty in water just north of Glenelg jetty about 6pm yesterday.

Three children were rescued but a further two were reported missing.

A short time later two boys were pulled unconscious from the water.

Paramedics worked desperately to save them but one died at the scene.

The second boy was rushed to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in a critical condition but was pronounced dead on arrival.

media_camera Scene of the tragedy with the victim's relatives. Picture: Tom Huntley

Police said the 11-year-old boys were mates from the northern suburbs.

Sturt police are investigating the incident and will prepare a report for the Coroner.

Witnesses told The Advertiser that up to five children had been playing near rocks when they disappeared into the water.

One of the boys was pulled from the water shortly after the alarm was raised but died despite the efforts of paramedics, who administered CPR.

The second boy was found about 20 minutes later by a man walking a dog almost 100m down the coastline.

It is believed the mother and other relatives of one of the boys watched on in horror as paramedics tried desperately to resuscitate him for more than 10 minutes.

“There was a lot of shouting and then the paramedics arrived,” one onlooker said.

“The children were on rocks and they fell off. They found one person soon after but after about 10 minutes of searching for the other person, someone found him washed up there.”

media_camera Emergency crew and paramedics arriving at the scene. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Blake Benge and Tallis Smith, both aged 14 of Sydney, said a man walking his dog discovered the second child when he washed up on the shore.

“A guy who was walking his dog saw him and held him in his arms and pulled him out,” Blake said.

“I saw the body and an arm came out of the water. He had no life in his body.”

Tallis described the victims as “young guys”.

“They were searching in boats and kayaks and they had a chopper here too,” he said.

The pair said the family screamed as paramedics, lifeguards and police descended on the beach.

“The family, I think it was the mother, was trying to push her way past and she was just screaming,” Blake said. “They gave him CPR for ages and were beating his chest but it didn’t look good for him before the ambulance took him away.”

Police escorted distraught family members from the beach after a woman, believed to be the mother of one of the boys, was taken over to his body, which was removed from the scene just after 7pm.

media_camera Horrified onlookers at the scene. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

In October last year, Rajeepan Nakuleswaran, 21, drowned in the River Murray at a sandbar near Renmark.

He had been playing volleyball with a group of friends when he decided to go for a swim but never made it back.

On Christmas Eve 2014, Blackfriars Priory School student Nasir Ali Anwari, 18, was swept away at Petrel Cove.

On Anzac Day that year, student Kamran Gujari, 19, disappeared in heavy waves, also at Petrel Cove.