Human head washes up on Florida tourist beach in front of terrified worker

A human head was discovered on Miami Beach in Florida by a worker who was raking the beach at around 8.30am on Tuesday morning, according to police

A human head was found washed up on a popular Florida tourist beach by a terrified worker - sparking a major police investigation into the horrific discovery.

According to police, the grim discovery was made by a worker who was raking the beach on Key Biscayne at around 8.30am on Tuesday morning. He called 911 who confirmed that the head was human. Miami-Dade Police Department sectioned off the stretch of beach where the head was found, with tape and traffic cones blocking the site as they launch an investigation. The identity of the individual is not yet known.

Police told NBC Miami that the Medical Examiner will be working with detectives to find out who the individual is. Miami-Dade police homicide detectives are now investigating.

“Detectives are on scene and are working with the Medical Examiner to determine the identity of the individual,” a police spokesperson said. Local residents in the community have been left disturbed by the discovery.

"You see all kinds of things here but nothing like this, like we saw this morning. The head of a person," Bahman Amini told CBS News. "This is my typical route. Our neighbourhood is very safe," another local told WPLG. "We have our children here; our children play on these beaches and it's just beyond belief."

A beach walker said she had no idea of the situtation until a police worker blocked off her normal route. The unnamed woman told NBC10: “He signalled with his finger that I needed to turn around immediately,” she said. “I understood the assignment.” She added that the find was “quite disturbing.”