4 Indians die of drowning at Australia’s Philip Island. Details here

Four Indians lost their lives in a drowning incident on Phillip Island in Australia's Victoria, the Indian High Commission in Canberra said on 25 January.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Indian High Commission wrote, “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.”

As per official, four Indians, including two women, have been killed in the incident, worst tragedy in Victorian waters in almost 20 years. Citing news.com report, PTI stated that the emergency services responded to reports of four people struggling in the water near Newhaven about 3.30 pm on Wednesday and all were found unresponsive.

“Life Saving Victoria was called to assist four people in trouble in the waters off Forrest Caves on Phillip Island, only a couple of kilometres from our patrolled lifeguard site,” Kane Treloar, the Life Saving Victoria state agency commander, said.

“Upon arriving at the scene, our lifeguards found that off-duty lifeguards had pulled three of those people from the water and one of our rescue boats pulled that last person from the water.” All were unconscious and unresponsive and the rescuers started CPR. The victims were not named by the authorities so far. “Despite the efforts of all involved, three of those people unfortunately passed away,” Treloar said.

Victoria Police Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner, Karen Nyholm revealed on Thursday the victims were a man and two women in their 20s, and a woman in her 40s. “It was an extended family group that came down here,” she said. 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.

(With PTI inputs)