- An 11-year-old boy is feared drowned after he was swept out to sea at a beach
- Child was swimming with his brother, 17, at Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie
- The teenager couldn’t save his brother as he got caught in rip tide and vanished
- Witness last night admitted chances of finding the 11-year-old alive were slim
An 11-year-old boy is feared drowned after he was swept out to sea at a notoriously deadly beach nearly 24 hours ago.
The child was swimming with his 17-year-old brother at Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, yesterday when he got caught in a rip tide and vanished.
His brother tried to save him but eventually was forced to battle back to shore and raised the alarm but rescuers were unable to find the young boy last night.
A witness last night admitted that chances of finding the 11-year-old alive were slim.
An 11-year-old boy is feared drowned after he was swept out to sea at a notoriously deadly beach nearly 24 hours ago
The child was swimming with his 17-year-old brother at Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, yesterday when he got caught in a rip tide and vanished
His brother tried to save him but eventually was forced to battle back to shore and raised the alarm but rescuers were unable to find the young boy last night
‘It’s about eight-foot, it’s absolutely pounding. It would be very difficult for an experienced swimmer, let alone a child,’ they told Newscorp.
‘I can tell you, it’s a daunting scene.’
The boy vanished at about 1.30pm and the emergency services were called just moments later.
There are no surf lifesavers at Lighthouse Beach, despite three people – including a two-year-old girl – dying there in the last 15 years.
A witness last night admitted that chances of finding the 11-year-old alive were slim
Surf Lifesaving Australia, Water Police, and Marine Rescue are also helping in the search
The search began again this morning. Last night A Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Surf Life Saving NSW drone were out searching for the boy.
His parents were based at a search headquarters a kilometre away, at the south end of the beach.
Mother Susan Collins, 33, and her two-year-old daughter Ally died at the same beach in 2002 after she ran into the waves to save a nine-year-old family friend.
A 69-year-old fisherman also died there last year.