They find a body inside a barrel that floated near a Malibu beach

A body inside a barrel was found floating on Monday in the waters of a Malibu (California) beach, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) has reported, which has cordoned off the area.

The barrel was seen floating in the sea off the popular Malibu Lagoon State Beach last night by cleaning and sanitation workers, who decided to wait until daylight to retrieve it, ABC7 television reported.

This Monday morning the workers set about the task of removing the barrel from the sea and found the body.

LASD is investigating how long the barrel was at sea and the person's cause of death.

No information has been released about the gender or possible age of the deceased person.

The authorities closed off a part of the beach to where the barrel was taken.