Bodies have been found off the coast of Lancashire after two teen brothers disappeared while swimming over the weekend.
Muhammad Azhar Shabbir, 18, and Ali Athar Shabbir, 16, got into difficulty in the water close to St Anne's Pier on Saturday evening (August 15).
Emergency services, including the coastguard, RNLI and police, were scrambled to the area shortly before 7pm, Lancashire Live reports.
A 15-year-old boy managed to swim to the shore was being treated in hospital on Saturday. All three teenagers are from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
Lancashire Constabulary stood down the search operation shortly after midday on Sunday after the coastguard and RNLI were unable to locate them.
But in a statement on Sunday evening, police confirmed two bodies were found at 3.15pm around a mile away from St Anne's Pier.
While they have yet to be formally identified, they are believed to be Muhammad and Ali.
Police said their family have been notified and are continuing to be supported by a specially trained officer.
A force spokesperson said: "Our HM Coastguard and RNLI colleagues searching for missing brothers Muhammad Azhar Shabbir (pictured on the left of the image), 18, and Ali Athar Shabbir (pictured on the right of the image), 16, from Dewsbury have sadly found two bodies.
They added; "Whilst they have yet to be formally identified, they are believed to be Muhammad and Ali. Their family have been notified and are continuing to be supported by a specially trained officer.
"Our thoughts and condolences remain with them and their friends at this incredibly distressing time.
"Thanks again to our colleagues at HM Coastguard, the RNLI and the National Police Air Service (NPAS) for helping the search to find Muhammad and Ali, as well as everyone who sent kind words and offered to help the search."
