Rescuers were searching for a missing snorkeller off the coast of a small town in Western Australia on Friday, as authorities in New South Wales continued to hunt for two people who went missing in hazardous surf over the new year.
A 32-year-old man was reported missing while snorkelling at Ledge Point Beach, about 105km north of Perth, at about 3pm on Thursday afternoon, WA police said.
Marine Rescue vessels, jetskis, police air-wing officers and divers were involved in the search for the man, which continued on Friday morning in the water as well as along the beachfront and coastline.
A search also continued on Friday in NSW for a Nepalese man who was reported missing early on Thursday morning at Coogee Beach, Sydney.
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Emergency services were called to the beach at about 6am after reports a man was in trouble in the water.
The Coogee Surf Life Saving Club president, Ben Heenan, said on Thursday the man was one of four people who had decided to go for an early morning swim at the beach but who were swept off their feet and out to sea “in a very big rip”.
“They tried to make their way back to shore and required assistance,” Heenan said.
“Three of them were able to make it back to shore. Unfortunately, one was unable to return. We immediately commenced a search.”
Coastal patrols also continue to search for a 14-year-old boy who went missing after a dinghy capsized at Palm Beach, north of Sydney.
Two men and the boy were in the vessel when it overturned in rough conditions around Barrenjoey headland about 11.35am on New Year’s Eve.
A man was pulled from the water by surf lifesavers and treated by paramedics but he died at the scene.
A second man was able to climb on to nearby rocks before he was winched to safety by a rescue helicopter and taken to hospital.
Three other people died in separate incidents in waters off the east coast this week, including an Irishman at Whitehaven beach near the Great Barrier Reef, and a 25-year-old woman who was swept into the ocean from a Sydney beach. A 45-year-old woman who died at Dunbogan beach, near Port Macquarie on NSW’s mid north coast, has been identified as mother-of-two Melissa Austin.
In a post on Facebook, the salon operated by Austin in Berowra, north of Sydney, said: “With broken hearts, we share the passing of Mel the beautiful owner of Mel’s Hair and Beauty.”
In a statement shared to social media, the Berowra Wallabies junior rugby league club shared its “sincere condolences to the … families over the tragic passing of their beautiful and beloved Mel”.
“We will remember Mel as a loving and devoted partner and mum to her boys, and for the warmth and brightness she radiated that touched so many of us.”
Dangerous surf battered the coast over the new year period thanks to strong southerly winds.
Early on Friday, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled its hazardous surf warning, which had been in place on New Year’s Day for Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay. A strong wind warning remained current for the Eden Coast.
Steven Pearce, the CEO of Surf Life Saving NSW, said all the drownings had occurred in “really hazardous surf conditions”.
“The beaches were closed in the majority of these instances,” Pearce told ABC News Breakfast on Friday. “And all at unpatrolled locations. And that means where there’s been no lifesavers or lifeguards on duty, really, it’s been left up to members of the public to try and assist in the first instance.
“I just think people just need to be cognisant and take some responsibility for their own personal safety.”
Surf Lifesaving NSW advised people to swim only at patrolled beaches and between the red and yellow flags.
“We’re really pleading for people, for the remainder of summer, if you are going to go down to the beaches and you’re away on holidays, it’s so important to find a location where there are lifesavers and lifeguards on duty,” Pearce said.
“Every drowning that’s occurred in the last 12 months [has] been at unpatrolled locations, away from red and yellow flags, and away from where there’s skilled and trained lifeguards and lifesavers.”
