An Irish man has died at Whitehaven beach near the Great Barrier Reef, with three other people found dead and grave fears for two more after separate incidents in waters off Sydney during a horror New Year period.
Queensland police said that emergency services received reports that a 35-year-old Irish man had been found dead in the water at the popular beach in the state’s north at about 11am on Wednesday.
“Police will prepare a report for the coroner following a drowning incident in the Whitsundays yesterday,” police said in a statement on Thursday, adding it would be inappropriate to comment further.
A day after the man’s death, a woman died after being swept into the ocean from a Sydney beach in the early hours of New Year’s Day, amid warnings about dangerous surf conditions on the New South Wales coast.
Police said emergency services were called to Maroubra beach in Sydney about 4am on Thursday after reports a person had been swept out into the ocean.
The 25-year-old woman was hit by a wave, knocking her into a tidal rock pool before further waves swept her out to sea, NSW police were told.
Police, including the air wing, and NSW Ambulance began a search and found the body of a woman at about 5am. The body was believed to be that of the missing woman.
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Hours later, a 45-year-old woman also died at Dunbogan beach, near Port Macquarie on NSW’s mid north coast.
Police said officers responded to reports the woman was struggling in the water at about 2.55pm on New Year’s Day. They arrived to find the woman pulled on to land, but she died at the scene.
Swimmer missing at Coogee
Meanwhile, a search was under way on Thursday morning for another swimmer believed to be missing in the water at Coogee.
Just after 6am on Thursday emergency services were called to Coogee beach after reports a man – believed to be aged in his 20s – was in trouble in the water.
Coogee Surf Life Saving Club president Ben Heenan said four people had decided to go for a morning swim at the beach.
“Due to large surf, they were swept out in a very big rip, swept off their feet,” Heenan said. “They tried to make their way back to shore and required assistance. An off-duty police officer and two off-duty surf life-savers went in and provided that assistance.
“Three of them were able to make it back to shore. Unfortunately, one was unable to return. We immediately commenced a search.”
Police, ambulance, surf life saving and council officers have joined the search.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a hazardous surf warning for much of the NSW coast, stretching from Byron to the Illawarra.
Surf and swell conditions were expected to be hazardous on Thursday for coastal activities such as rock fishing, boating, and swimming, the BoM said.
The police marine area command said people should consider staying out of the water and avoid walking near surf-exposed areas.
Search for teenage boy after boat capsized
The incidents follow the death of a man in Sydney on New Year’s Eve, after a dinghy capsized at Palm beach.
Two men and a 14-year-old boy were in the vessel when it overturned in rough conditions around Barrenjoey headland about 11.35am.
A man was pulled from the water by surf life-savers 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.
A search for the missing boy was expected to continue on New Year’s Day.
Steven Pearce, the chief executive of Surf Life Saving NSW, said the past 24 hours had been “a very horrific period in terms of drownings” for NSW.
“That’s on top of multiple mass rescues that were conducted yesterday by life-savers and lifeguards right up the NSW coast,” Pearce told 2GB radio on Thursday morning.
