COASTGUARD crews are continuing to search for a man who is understood to be missing after he got into difficulty while out at sea.
Emergency services swarmed Clacton seafront yesterday morning and evacuated the beaches after six people became stranded off the coastline.
Five of the beachgoers were subsequently rescued and pulled from the water before being taken to Colchester Hospital for further treatment and care.
Despite the best efforts of lifeboat and coastguard crews, however, one man, believed to be in his early 20s, remains unaccounted for.
The search for the man, which was initially stopped at midnight yesterday, resumed at 9am today and is expecting to continue throughout the afternoon and into the night.
A spokesman for HM Coastguard said: "Searches continued until around midnight last night and have started again around nine this morning.
“The search is ongoing and we have no further information.”
READ MORE: RECAP: Clacton lifeboat crews deployed after person is reported missing
Those who found themselves caught-up in the unnerving emergency are understood to have been swept towards the underneath of Clacton Pier by a strong current.
The casualties who were rescued were saved by workers on the historic attraction who threw them life rings attached to ropes for them to hang onto.
READ MORE: Clacton Pier workers praised for saving stranded swimmers
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