A group of friends rushed to help pull three men from the sea at Crosby Beach before rescuers arrived.
Witnesses to the incident, which saw five men get into difficult at the beauty spot, have described the 'distressing' scene.
Emergency services rushed to the beach at around 7pm on Tuesday, July 20 after a 999 call from somebody at the beach reporting a group of men in trouble in the water.
READ MORE: Latest update as three men taken to hospital after five pulled from water at Crosby beach
One man, who helped pulled the men from the water said it was "the worst thing he'd ever seen and been involved in"
He added: "A woman on her own, god knows how found them basically floating and brought them back to near the shore where me and few mates and others on the beach pulled them onto the beach..
"The police or any emergency service didn’t arrive for about 20 to 30 minutes after they were pulled out."
The Coastguard has now confirmed three of the five men were taken to hospital after the incident, with the other two not needing medical assistance.
Another witness, Steve Cornforth who has lived in Crosby for almost 35 years, was walking to the beach with a group of friends for a litter pick after thousands took to the coast on one of the hottest days of the year.
The 65-year-old said: "It's just something me and my friends do every so often, especially on days like today when lots of people have been to the beach.
"It can end up looking a bit of a mess, and we live here so like to keep it clean."
Once the group got closer to the beach they saw 'dozens' of emergency service vehicles with blue flashing lights at the section of beach by Crosby Baths.
The 65-year-old said: "My friend spoke to a police officer saying we were planning on walking along the beach to pick up some litter when they said the beach was closed.
"It's the most serious emergency service scene I have seen in 30 odd years, there were ambulances, police, coastguard and a helicopter."
There were still hundreds of people on the beach when the incident happened at around 7pm, with Steve saying many were waiting what was happening from the sand banks.
"It was quite distressing. Hundreds of people were at the beach and were moved by police during the incident.
"People were just watching from the sand banks to try and see what was happening. You could see something was going on from quite a while away."
A spokesperson from the Coastguard said: "HM Coastguard received a 999 call from a member of the public just after 7.05pm this evening (July 20) saying that five people were difficulty in the water at Crosby Beach.
"Crosby Coastguard Rescue Team, lifeboats from New Brighton and Southport, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, North West Ambulance Service and Merseyside Police were all sent.
"All five people were recovered to the beach.
"Two of the people did not require medical assistance, three were passed into the care of the ambulance service and taken to hospital."
Two fire engines and a search and rescue team onboard the Marine Fire One vehicle attended the scene at 7.24pm and assisted the RNLI and Coastguard.
