Five seasoned surfers drowned off the coast of the Netherlands after going out in a storm Monday evening, according to a report.

The men were in a group of ten swimmers and surfers that left from a beach in the Scheveningen district of The Hague — a popular surfing locale, according to a Guardian report.

The rough weather caused a dense layer of sea foam to form on the water making it difficult to search for the men.

“The strong wind from a northern direction and strong sea current due to the spring tide made the joint search actions a tricky job,” said a spokesman for a lifeguard company KNRM, the outlet reported

Three bodies were found Tuesday morning but the coast guard found more surfboards than humans. By Tuesday evening a fourth and fifth body was found, the outlet reported.

The victims — who were age 22, 23, 24, 30 and 38 — reportedly worked as instructors and lifeguards at the local surf school where supporters held a memorial Tuesday evening, the news organization reported.

One victim, a 40-year-old man, survived the ordeal and was treated and released from the hospital, the Guardian reported.

The night mayor for The Hague, Pat Smith told a local radio station, “I knew two of these guys very well.”

“Like me, they were internationally trained lifeguards,” Smith said. “They have worked in Australia and received heavy training from an international water sports association. Yesterday they were training on the water. They got lost in the foam.”

Acting mayor Johan Remkes said there would be an investigation into the causes of death.

“It is known here better than anywhere that ‘the sea gives and the sea takes’, but the way so many young lives are now being broken down and so many families and groups of friends have been affected is unprecedentedly cruel,” Remkes said.