Tragic start to 2026 with four drownings and two missing in multiple coastal emergencies off east coast

The new year has begun with several tragic coastal incidents that have claimed the lives of several people, and left more missing.

Emergency services responded to multiple serious coastal incidents over the last 48 hours, with four people dead, including an Irish tourist.

The 35-year-old man was visiting the Whitsundays and swimming at the popular Whitehaven Beach on Wednesday.

Queensland Police received a call around 11am after a lifeless body was spotted in the water.

The man was brought to the shore and declared dead a short time later.

In NSW, rescuers are still searching for a man in his 20s who got into trouble in rough waters off Coogee Beach in Sydney’s east.

The alarm was raised just after 6am on New Year’s Day, when four people needed saving due to the rough conditions.

“Due to the large surf, they were swept out in a very big rip and got swept off their feet. They tried to make their way back to shore and required assistance,” Coogee Surf Life Saving Club President Ben Heenan said.

“An off-duty police officer and two off-duty surf lifesavers went in and provided that assistance. Three of them were able to make it back to shore, unfortunately, one was unable to return.”

The incident occurred just two hours after a 25-year-old woman drowned at Maroubra Beach, less than three kilometres away.

Police said emergency services were called to the beach around 4am on Thursday after reports of someone being swept out to sea.

Witnesses told police the woman, believed to be a Chinese national, was hit by a wave and knocked into a tidal pool, before being carried out to sea.

An hour later rescuers retrieved a body, but she could not be revived.

A second woman died in a separate drowning on NSW’s Mid North Coast on Thursday afternoon.

Just before 3pm, emergency services were called to Dunbogan Beach, about 38km south of Port Macquarie, after reports a woman was struggling in the water.

Upon arrival, officers found a 45-year-old woman had been pulled from the water.

She was treated at the scene, but unfortunately could not be revived.

A capsized boat incident at Palm Beach claimed the life of one man, while the search for a 14-year-old boy believed to be onboard continues.

Emergency services were called to Palm Beach just before noon on Wednesday following reports.

One man was found clinging onto rocks at Barrenjoey Headland before being winched to safety by rescuers.

A second man was pulled from the water but could not be revived and died at the scene.

Multiple other rescues and near-drownings have occurred across Sydney and NSW, with authorities issuing clear warnings about the dangerous surf conditions.

Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Stephan Pearce said there has been approximately 85 rescues in the week since Christmas Day alone.

“We knew that New Year’s Day was going to be very busy operationally for us because, statistically, we see that people are three times more likely to drown in that period rather than any other time during the year,” he said.

“We are pleading for people - do not enter the water today, if that beach is closed.”

Closed beaches include Coogee, Bronte, Maroubra and Tamarama.

Further north, an Irish man has died at Whitehaven Beach, near the Great Barrier Reef around 11 am on Wednesday.