Man dies in Canberra river as life savers warn of elevated drowning risk over summer holidays
Share:
The country has recorded 32 reported drowning deaths in December, according to Royal Life Saving Australia data. A 21-year-old man has died while swimming in a river on Canberra’s southern edge, bringing the number of drowning deaths around Australia in December alone to 32.
The man was swimming in the Murrumbidgee river at Pine Island reserve, near Tuggeranong, with family and friends on Sunday afternoon but failed to resurface. Emergency services responded to calls for help at 6pm and found the man’s body at the popular swimming spot after a two-hour search.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. While the death was the Australian Capital Territory’s first in December, it was the nation’s 32nd reported drowning death in the month to Sunday evening, according to Royal Life Saving Australia data.
December 2024’s death toll is now equal that of the same period in 2023, with the greatest share recorded in New South Wales, with 10, followed by Queensland, at eight. Western Australia’s total deaths had reached seven, after Mohammad Swapan, 44, and his 40-year-old wife Sabrina Ahmed were unable to be revived on Saturday after being pulled from a rip at a Conspicuous Cliff beach near Walpole, 430km south of Perth.
The Perth couple were on holiday with other families over the Christmas break and had rushed into the water in an attempt to rescue their two daughters from a rip, according to the Dhaka Tribune. Their daughters were unharmed but a 42-year-old man who knew the couple and had also dived in was treated at the scene and taken to hospital by St John Ambulance.
