Nine people have been saved from drowning by dozens of beachgoers who formed a human chain to pull them to shore.

Roberta Ursrey and her husband, mother, nephew and sons were caught in a rip current some 90m from the beach at Panama City, Florida, on Saturday afternoon. The water in the spot was 15 feet deep.

People who saw the struggling people apparently felt powerless to help them, the Panama City News Herald reported.

But Jessica Simmons, walking on the shore after a meal with her husband, saw a chance to save the stranded party.

"I knew I could get out there and get to them," she told the Panama City News Herald.


"These people are not dying today," she recalled telling herself.

Image: Some 80 people linked arms to reach the stricken swimmers. Pic: Rosalind Beckton

As Ms Simmons swam out to the distressed swimmers, other people on the beach linked together in a human chain to reach them.

Around 80 people apparently made up the chain - and even those who couldn't swim joined in to help, sticking to the shallows.

Starting with the children, the rescuers passed the stricken swimmers up the length of the chain to the safety of the beach.

"To see people from different races and genders come into action to help TOTAL strangers is absolutely amazing to see!!" Ms Simmons wrote in a Facebook post.

Image: Popular with swimmers, conditions at Florida's Panama beach can become rough

"People who didn't even know each other went HAND IN HAND IN A LINE, into the water."

Saving the family, however, had been a close call.

Ms Simmons described a distressing scene in the water, including finding the family's grandmother was almost unconscious as she was hauled back to shore.

It later emerged that she had suffered a massive heart attack, according to the Herald.

All nine of the trapped swimmers survived the ordeal.

Ms Ursrey said she was "so grateful" to the people who had rescued her, describing them as "God's angels".

"A entire BEACH jumped into action to save these people," Ms Simmons said on Facebook.

"It was life changing to witness it."