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A nine-year-old boy has died off the NSW mid-north coast after being caught between rocks, following a series of drowning deaths across what surf lifesavers have described as the “worst Easter long weekend in years”.
Police said emergency services were called to South West Rocks at about 3.30pm on Sunday following reports the boy had become stuck between rocks off the shoreline.
Local police officers, along with members of NSW Fire and Rescue and Surf Live Savers NSW, endeavoured to free the boy from the rocks, but he died at the scene.
An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
The boy’s death takes the death toll from incidents near the water across the long weekend to seven, and came just hours after a .
Emergency services were called to Wattamolla in Sydney’s Royal National Park at 11am on Sunday following reports that two people were swept off the rocks while fishing.
The man and a 14-year-old were found floating face down in the water and were winched to safety, but the man was unable to be revived and died at the scene. The teenager is in a stable condition in hospital.
Two fishermen died on the NSW south coast on Friday, and a man drowned in Mosman on Sydney’s north shore the same morning.
A woman also died in San Remo in Victoria on Friday after being washed into the water along with two friends. One woman was rescued, but a 41-year-old man remains missing, and rescue crews have resumed their search.
The body of a rock fisher who died after being swept into the sea off a beach in Tathra in NSW was also recovered on Saturday morning.
Rescue crews in NSW have also resumed their search for a 24-year-old man who was swept off the rocks by a large wave at Little Bay in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Friday.
Prime minister urges beachgoers to be careful
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday: “Tragedy has struck over this Easter weekend. [I want to give] my thoughts for those families and friends suffering from the fact that there have now been seven drownings.”
“These are tragic events. Australians love the water. We love the surf. I’m one of those. But please, everyone, be careful, families in particular, to be careful of your kids, and my heart goes out to those for whom Easter will be a very difficult time indeed,” he said during a press conference in Batemans Bay.
On Sunday, Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce said it had been the worst Easter long weekend he’d seen in many years.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is for the public to be aware of the surf conditions when visiting the coastline and to not place themselves in a position of unnecessary risk,” he said.
Royal Life Saving Australia chief executive Justin Scarr said the tragic events happened in extreme weather conditions and urged people to avoid dangerous activities.
Those activities included walking along rocky shelves, getting too close to the water to take pictures of the storm swell and rock fishing when it wasn’t safe.
— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
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