Two bodies recovered after empty dinghy found adrift

Two bodies have been recovered – the first from the sea off Hove yesterday (Monday 10 August) – after an empty dinghy was reported adrift off Lancing.

The RNLI Shoreham lifeboat said: “Our lifeboats resumed the search early today for a second missing man connected to the unoccupied inflatable dinghy found at Lancing yesterday.

“Sadly our lifeboat crew located a second body this morning off Shoreham.

“Our thoughts are with the families of the two men involved.”

The drifting dinghy was spotted at about 1.40pm yesterday, prompting a search involving the coastguard, police and lifeboat crews from Brighton, Shoreham and Newhaven.

The first body was found off Hove shortly after 5pm and the second body was recovered at about 8.45am today after being spotted by a coastguard helicopter crew.

The deaths come just a week after the body of Andrea Lauro was found in the sea at Hove, last Tuesday (4 August), the day after his kayak washed ashore.

Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Please don’t use inflatables in the sea.

“With the sunny weather continuing, we’re urging residents and visitors to keep themselves safe if they go in the sea and not to use inflatables.

“Brighton and Hove’s coastline can be extremely dangerous, with winds coming in from multiple directions causing dangerous wave conditions on the shoreline.

“Sadly, there have been two fatal accidents in the past couple of weeks involving people using inflatables in the sea.

“The RNLI guidance is that inflatables, blow-up toys and airbeds are designed for pools and shouldn’t be used in the sea as they can easily be swept out.”