Alarm bells are sounding with Australians being urged to start the new year prioritising safety around waterways after half a dozen drownings during the festive season.
A couple from Perth’s Bangladeshi community who were reportedly attempting to rescue their two daughters from a rip are among those to have recently died in Australian waters.
This summer season has already resulted in 31 drowning deaths.
Surf Life Saving Australia chief executive Adam Weir said volunteer surf lifesavers will be out in force in a bid to keep similar tragedies at bay.
“In order to enjoy our beaches, we want to make sure people are only swimming at patrolled beaches and make safety their top priority,” he said.
“The drowning risk is more than four times higher during the summer public holidays which is a result of people taking more risks, not wanting to visit the crowded patrolled beaches as well as combining alcohol/drugs with swimming.”
Royal Lifesaving Society chief executive Justin Scarr said Australians need to stay extra vigilant around water during the treacherous week before New Years Eve, where one in four annual drownings can take place.
In Canberra, a 21-year-old man drowned after he failed to resurface while swimming with family and friends at Pine Island in the Murrumbidgee River on Sunday.
Emergency crews, including maritime services and federal police divers, found the man almost two hours after he disappeared, Detective Acting Inspector Alex Chapman said.
“Police encourage people to be careful in and around waterways, and that includes, even on hot summer days, the water can be very cold and it can induce fatigue and cramping without warning,” he told reporters on Monday.
In Tasmania, a 38-year-old man drowned after encountering difficulty with strong currents while attempting to rescue four children at Carlton Beach, east of Hobart on Sunday.
A 55-year-old Brisbane man died after he fell off a waterfall near Cairns in far north Queensland.
Emergency services arrived at Behana Gorge about 1.30pm on Sunday but the man could not be located, with a search and rescue operation finding the man’s body an hour later.
On the Gold Coast, an 18-year-old man died falling 15m into a rock embankment after reportedly using a rope swing at the Coomera River on Sunday.
He sustained critical head, chest and pelvic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Tragedy also struck in Western Australia where Mohammad Swapan, 44, and his 40-year-old wife Sabrina Ahmed were swimming at Conspicuous Cliff beach, near Walpole, 430km south of Perth, on Saturday.
Emergency services responded to reports three adults were in distress in the water before unsuccessful efforts were made to revive the pair.
A 42-year-old man was treated at the scene and taken to hospital by St John Ambulance.
Dr Swapan and Ms Ahmed’s two daughters had been caught in a rip which prompted the couple to rush into the water and attempt a rescue, according to Bangladeshi English-language newspaper, the Dhaka Tribune.
Both girls survived but a report on their parents’ deaths will be prepared for the coroner.
A friend and colleague of Dr Swapan and Ms Ahmed, Ruhul Salim, said they were popular members of Perth’s Bangladeshi community and would be deeply missed.
“There has been a huge tribute and condolences since yesterday,” he told Nine News.
In NSW, the body of teenager Luca Bennett was recovered after he was swept off rocks at North Avoca Beach on the Central Coast on Christmas Eve.
The 15-year-old aspiring basketballer was one of three teenagers swept into the sea when the group was hit by a wave.
