Four Indians drowned off the Forrest Caves beach at Phillip Island in Australia's Victoria on Wednesday. The victims belonged to an extended family, local media reported.
The beach at Forrest Caves, a popular tourist destination on Phillip Island for its sea caves, is known among locals as a dangerous swimming spot that is not patrolled by lifeguards.
Expressing condolences, the Indian High Commission in Canberra said the Consulate General in Melbourne is in touch with the victim's friends.
"Heart breaking tragedy in Australia: 4 Indians lost their lives in a drowning incident at Phillip Island, Victoria. Deepest condolences to families of the victims. @cgimelbourne team is in touch with friends of the deceased for all necessary assistance," said the embassy.
Victoria Police Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner, Karen Nyholm said the victims were a man and two women in their 20s, and a woman in her 40s, news.com.au reported.
Three of them died at the scene while the fourth victim - in her 20s - was flown to a hospital in Melbourne in a critical condition and succumbed later, the report mentioned.
“It was an extended family group that came down here,” the report quoted Karen Nyholm as saying.
Nyholm said a 43-year-old woman who died was holidaying in Australia, and police have confirmed the other three victims lived in the Melbourne suburb of Clyde.
Cops said the deceased were yet to be formally identified, however, their deaths were not being treated as suspicious.
Off-duty lifeguards were among the first responders, the report said, adding that emergency services believe the group was wading in the water before being caught in a rip.
Witnesses say they saw people crying and comforting each other as emergency services performed CPR on the patients, the report mentioned. “I told them not to go – I should have been there,” a man was heard saying as per the Herald Sun cited in the report.
One witness said it seemed to be a group of 10 people who "came here for a really nice day," adding, "Obviously it turned to tragedy.”
Life Saving Victoria chief Kane Treloar said it was the worst drowning incident the state had seen in decades. “It’s been almost 20 years since we’ve seen a single event that’s resulted in such a high number of loss of life in Victorian waters,” the report quoted him as saying.
