Nine-year-old dies as Australia weekend drowning toll rises to seven

A nine-year-old boy who got trapped between rocks at a New South Wales beach on Sunday has become the seventh person to drown in Australia over the Easter weekend.

The majority of deaths were caused by strong swells washing people into the ocean from rocks. Two people remain missing.

Steven Pearce, the CEO of Surf Live Saving in New South Wales, where most of the fatalities occurred, told the ABC it was the “worst” spate of drownings on record for the Easter long weekend.

“It has just been horrendous on a weekend that’s supposed to be joyous and religious,” Pearce told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Emergency teams were able to retrieve the boy at South West Rocks, about 400 kilometres north of Sydney, but he died at the scene.

Earlier on Sunday, a helicopter spotted a father and son floating in the water near Wattamolla Beach, south of Sydney. The 14-year-old son was resuscitated, but the father was later pronounced dead.

Meanwhile, Police in Victoria are continuing to search for a 41-year-old man who went missing near San Remo on Friday.

Surf Live Saving New South Wales said it has carried out more than 150 rescues since Good Friday.

Mr Pearce said a “perfect combination” of high temperatures, the holiday weekend, and dangerous ocean swells across much of New South Wales and Victoria caused the spike in deaths.

Although conditions are set to improve on Monday, authorities urged those visiting the coastline to exercise caution.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese expressed sympathy to the victims’ families. “Please, everyone, be careful. Families in particular, be careful of your kids,” he said.

According to Royal Life Saving Australia, 323 people drowned across the country in the year to June 2024.

That figure includes those who died in rivers and creeks, as well as beaches. Nearly 40% of the deaths were recorded in New South Wales.