Boy dies in seventh fatal incident at Australian beaches in three days

Sydney, April 21 (IANS) A boy has died after becoming stuck between rocks in the seventh fatal incident at Australian beaches in three days.

The nine-year-old boy was caught in the water between rocks at a beach on the mid-north coast of the state of New South Wales (NSW), almost 400 km northeast of Sydney, at about 3:30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Emergency services were called, and local police, surf lifesavers and fire and rescue crews worked to extricate the boy, but he died at the scene.

It marked the seventh death at Australian beaches over the first three days of the four-day Easter long weekend. Of the deaths, six have occurred at beaches in NSW, with the other one in the southeastern state of Victoria.

Earlier on Sunday, a man died and a 14-year-old was hospitalised after they were washed off rocks while fishing in Sydney's Royal National Park.

In addition to the seven deaths, emergency searches are ongoing for two people who are missing at sea after being swept from rocks in separate incidents on Friday.

A 24-year-old male was walking on rocks with friends at a beach in Sydney's east when a wave swept him into the sea, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hours earlier, a group of three was swept out to sea from rocks at a beach on Victoria's south coast. One woman managed to return to shore safely, but a second woman died, and her husband remains missing.

Steven Pearce, chief executive of the NSW branch of Surf Life Saving Australia, said it was the worst Easter weekend for water deaths in the state on record.

He attributed the number of deaths to a combination of unseasonably high temperatures and an "enormous swell" along the NSW coast.

Surf Life Saving Australia on Thursday issued a warning for people to be aware of the dangers at unpatrolled beaches over the Easter holiday period.

--IANS

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