Thirteen rescued at Melbourne beach

Thirteen people had to be rescued from rough seas off a Melbourne beach, with several of them caught in choppy water under a pier.

The mass rescue by lifesavers at Altona on Wednesday came shortly after strong wind gusts from a cool change at 6pm blew many objects of the pier.

Several of the people who had to be rescued had jumped from a pier into the water to try and retrieve their blown-away belongings.

None of them needed hospital treatment.