A desperate multi-agency search will resume on Friday for a 25-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy who vanished in separate incidents in treacherous Sydney waters over the New Year period, as authorities confirm a tragic start to 2025 with multiple drownings along the NSW coast.
Desperate Searches at Coogee and Palm Beach
The search for the 25-year-old man at Coogee Beach is set to resume on Friday morning. He disappeared in the water around 6am on New Year's Day as dangerous three-metre swells pounded the shoreline. The dramatic scene saw first responders, including a fully clothed police officer, race into the surf in an attempt to locate him after two other people were successfully saved.
An extensive operation involving officers from the Marine Area Command, NSW Ambulance, Surf Life Saving NSW, and Randwick City Council was launched but was ultimately called off on Thursday due to the perilous conditions. Police hold grave fears for the man's life.
Further north, efforts to find a 14-year-old boy at Palm Beach have been scaled back to coastal patrols. The teenager was on a boat with two other men when it crashed onto rocks at approximately 11.35am on New Year's Eve. While one man made it to safety, another was pulled from the water by lifesavers but died at the scene.
A Fatal Start to the New Year
The wild surf conditions across New South Wales have led to a devastating cluster of drownings. The fatal incidents began early on New Year's Day when emergency services were called to Maroubra Beach around 4am. Witnesses reported that a 25-year-old woman, believed to be a Chinese national, was struck by a wave, knocked into a tidal rock pool, and then swept out to sea.
Her body was recovered at 5am, but she could not be resuscitated. In a separate tragedy later that day, a 45-year-old woman was pulled unconscious from the water off Dunbogan Beach on the mid-north coast around 2.55pm and also could not be revived.
These incidents are part of a staggering wave of more than 85 rescues performed by NSW lifesavers since Christmas Day, prompting an urgent safety warning from authorities.
Authorities Issue Stark Warning
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO, Steven Pearce, described the 24-hour period as incredibly dangerous, marked by a tragic cluster of drownings and numerous major rescues. "The conditions are super dangerous right up and down the coastline," Pearce told Sunrise. "It was just so dangerous to go in and just so frustrating to see tragic losses of life that could have been prevented."
He emphasised a critical point: all of the serious incidents occurred at beaches that were unpatrolled by lifesavers during the holiday period. "People are travelling to so many locations, we can't have lifesavers and lifeguards standing on every beach," Pearce stated. The paramount advice is for people to only swim at beaches marked by the red and yellow flags, which indicate a patrolled and safer location.
The community is urged to heed these warnings as the search for the missing continues and the summer holiday period progresses.
