SYDNEY, Australia: A fisherman died after being swept off rocks in Australia today, the latest in a spate of drowning deaths that have marred the Easter weekend.
At least six people have drowned across Australia since Friday as unusually large waves hit the coast.
New South Wales (NSW) Police said today that paramedics were unable to revive the fisherman after waves swept him off rocks in Sydney’s south.
A 14-year-old boy, who was also swept into the sea, was winched from the water and was in a stable condition in hospital, police said.
In a separate incident, a search is still underway after a 24-year-old man was carried into the sea by a large wave while walking on rocks in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs on Friday.
On Saturday, a rock fisherman died after being swept into the sea on NSW’s Far South Coast.
On Friday, a woman died and a man was missing after being washed into the water in San Remo, near Melbourne.
“One of the women managed to make her way back to shore but the other woman and the man were unable to,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
The incident followed the death of a 58-year-old man, who police believe was fishing on a rock wall when he was swept into the water and drowned in Wollongong.
Two other men drowned in separate incidents in Mosman and Eden on Friday, NSW Police reported.
Both were believed to have been washed off rocks.
The Bureau of Meteorology had cautioned Australians to take extra care ahead of the Easter weekend as a deep low pressure system generated large and powerful surf and swell across the NSW coast and offshore islands. – BERNAMA-dpa
