Emergency services were called to Brighton Beach early Wednesday morning over concern for a person in the water, leading to three bodies being recovered.
Police are working to identify three females found in the English Channel off Brighton seafront and the public have been warned against speculating on the circumstances of their deaths.
While the search for any other people in the water has now concluded, Brighton seafront remains choked by police and coastguard vehicles, and the beach is to remain closed for the rest of the day.
A police statement said the emergency services were alerted over “concerns for the welfare of a person in the water” at 05:45 on Wednesday morning. Three bodies were subsequently pulled from the water.
No details about the identities or even ages of the females discovered, but they have been described as “women” so far.
Police said they were working quickly to discover who the women are and how they came to be in the sea. Equipment including three volunteer lifeboats, HM Coastguard rescue teams, and a Coastguard helicopter were deployed to the area.
A police spokesman said:
Our priority right now is to identify all three women and contact their next of kin. I know this incident will be highly distressing for the community, and we are working hard with our partners to understand exactly what has happened.
This includes gathering and reviewing CCTV from the surrounding area, including from properties and local businesses nearby. Our partners in the Coastguard have completed an extensive search of the water and at this stage we are not searching for anyone else.
Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne later added: “We must allow police to investigate and refrain from speculation at this time”.