Two bodies have been found in the sea off Brighton.
The first man was discovered, still in a wetsuit, floating near Shoreham on Monday night after an unoccupied dinghy was spotted earlier in the day.
Police, the Coastguard and The Brighton and Shoreham RNLI lifeboats began their search yesterday afternoon after the inflatable boat, containing a shopping trolley as well as a mobile phone and items of clothing, was found at 1.30pm, reports The Argus.
The second body was spotted by the crew of a Coastguard helicopter and picked up by the Shoreham lifeboat crew on Tuesday morning.
The lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter searched for nine hours before the first body was recovered by the crew of the Shoreham boat, the RLNI said on Twitter.
Our lifeboats searched for 9 hours with @RNLIBrighton @ShorehamCG & the CG helicopter from #BeachyHead to #Littlehampton after an unoccupied inflatable dinghy was found drifting at #Lancing on Monday at 2pm. Sadly our inshore lifeboat recovered a body from the sea at #Hove #RNLI pic.twitter.com/L4BLrZ4kFq
— Shoreham Lifeboat (@SLifeboatRNLI) August 11, 2020
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "During enquiries to confirm the identity of the man it became apparent that his friend was also missing and a search continued at sea on Monday evening and resumed on Tuesday morning.
"Around 8.45am, a body was spotted by the crew of a Coastguard helicopter and was picked up by the Shoreham lifeboat crew. It has not formally identified, but is believed to be that of the missing man."
This latest incident comes as the RNLI has issued a warning to beachgoers using inflatables at sea after a series of several rescues across Britain.
A man's body was pulled from the sea near Clacton Pier, Essex on Monday morning and in Dorset there were five separate call-outs along Bournemouth beach on Sunday alone, with some involving children as young as seven years old.
