Three dead and two rushed to hospital after yacht sinks off the NSW coast north of Sydney
- A desperate rescue operation launched off Newcastle after yacht capsized
- Rescuers winched two survivors to safety and have taken them to hospital
- Three others were found dead in water and their bodies have been recovered
Three people died and two were rescued after a yacht sank off Newcastle this morning.
An 11.7-metre catamaran with five on board capsized 12km from Stockton Beach at around 10am.
Marine police and a westpac rescue helicopter rushed to the scene where crews winched two survivors, a 40-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, to safety.
Three others were found dead in the water.
An 11.7-metre catamaran (pictured) with five on board capsized 12km from Stockton Beach at around 10am
The man and the girl were taken to John Hunter Hospital. The victims have not been identified.
Ambulance NSW Inspector Luke Wiseman said crews arrived to find a ‘very, very confronting’ scene.
‘They were travelling as a group but we don’t know if they were all connected as a family,’ he said.
A New South Wales Police spokesman said: ‘About 10.10am an emergency beacon was activated from a 11.7m catamaran that had overturned approximately 7 nautical miles off the coast at Stockton Beach.
‘Two people, believed to be a girl and a man, have been winched from the water and taken to John Hunter Hospital.
‘Three bodies have been found in the water and have been retrieved by Marine Rescue’.
A desperate rescue operation is under way off Newcastle after the yacht capsized (stock image; not today’s rescue)