Swimmers reminded to stay between flags after woman drowns, man missing after Queensland beach incidents.

Swimmers are being urged to take extra precautions this Australia Day public holiday following two swimming incidents in south-east Queensland over the weekend.

Surf Life Saving Queensland regional manager Aaron Purchase said emergency services have used jet skis, drones and helicopters to look for the 21-year-old man since Saturday.

“A man and his brother were out on bodyboards, they got hit by a wave, lost one of those boards and got into difficulty,” Mr Purchase said.

“Unfortunately one of the gentlemen made it back to the beach and the other one hasn’t come back in as yet.

“The longer that goes by, the less likely it is to have a positive outcome.

“But we’ll continue to do the best that we can and working with the water police who provide the best advice around the survivability of these sort of incidents.”

Swim between the flags

Police will prepare a report for the coroner, after a 27-year-old woman drowned at Bulcock Beach at Caloundra on Sunday.

“Another tragic event has occurred outside of the patrolled areas,” Mr Purchase said.

“We understand the lady was going for a swim with a friend who’d come out of the water and short time later other members of the public noticed her floating unresponsive.”

Attempts to revive her were unsuccessful.

He urged people to swim between the red and yellow flags.

“With all of the tragedies that have occurred on our beaches, they’ve been away from the flagged areas which makes it so much harder for lifesavers and lifeguards to be able to respond,” he said.

“We understand that the flagged areas can get busy but they really are the safest spot on the beaches to swim.”

Key points:

• Surf Life Saving Queensland says people have drowned while swimming outside of patrolled areas this summer
• Data shows drownings are more common on long weekends and public holidays
• A national awareness campaign has been launched ahead of Australia Day

Source
ABC News