Two men were taken to hospital after getting caught in a rip tide off a beach in the east of England, coastguards said.
A group of up to 10 people had been in the water at the time, a Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman said.
However, she added that it was as yet unclear how many of the group had been in initial difficulty and how many were people who had gone to the aid of others in trouble.
She added: "Quite a number of people went into the water to help. There were two people that needed medical attention. They have been transferred to hospital."
This was the scene as the emergency services mounted a rescue at Sea Palling pic.twitter.com/N8XnYxF07F
— Eastern Daily Press (@EDP24) July 23, 2016
Three land ambulances, an air ambulance and a fire crew attended the scene in Sea Palling, on the Norfolk coast in East Anglia.
A spokesman for Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service said they were called at 11.44am to attend Beach Road.
Never seen so many emergency response vehicles in my life, coast road to sea palling , stay safe out there
— Storm from the east (@DjRemedee) July 23, 2016