NEW DELHI: In a devastating incident at an unpatrolled beach on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia, four individuals, including two women, lost their lives in a drowning tragedy. The unfortunate event occurred on Wednesday, marking the most severe water-related tragedy in Victoria in nearly two decades.
Emergency services were alerted to the distress of four people struggling in the water near Newhaven around 3:30 pm on Wednesday. Responders found all four individuals unresponsive, as reported by the New Indian. Life-Saving Victoria state agency commander, Kane Treloar, stated that the incident unfolded only a few kilometres from the patrolled lifeguard site at Forrest Caves on Phillip Island.
Off-duty lifeguards and a rescue boat managed to retrieve the victims from the water. Despite immediate efforts to administer CPR, all four remained unconscious. Their identities were not disclosed by authorities at the time of the report.
Tragically, three of the individuals succumbed to the incident despite the combined efforts of the rescue teams. The Indian High Commission in Canberra expressed its condolences, sharing news of the heartbreaking tragedy on social media.
According to Treloar, this incident stands as the worst drowning event witnessed in the state in decades. The victims, revealed by Victoria Police Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner Karen Nyholm, included a man and two women in their 20s, as well as a woman in her 40s. The group, described as an extended family, had come to the area for a visit.
The 43-year-old woman who lost her life was on vacation in Australia, while the other three victims were confirmed residents of the Melbourne suburb of Clyde. Three individuals, a man and two women, died at the scene, while a woman in her 20s was rushed to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and later succumbed to the tragic incident.
Assistant Commissioner Nyholm acknowledged the profound impact this tragedy would have on the families involved, emphasizing the severity and sorrow associated with the unfortunate loss of four lives.