A man has drowned in Australia trying to save his daughter after she was swept out to sea by a riptide. The 11-year-old girl and the 45-year-old man were swimming with family at Lennox Head in northern New South Wales when she was swept out on a bodyboard.
It is thought the beach, known as Seven Mile Beach, was unpatrolled at the time of the incident.
Authorities attempted CPR but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The father-of-three was with his partner and family swimming in “shallow” waters at around 6:30pm local time on Wednesday (7:30am GMT).
He attempted to reach his daughter after she was swept out on a bodyboard but he was unable to bring her back to shore.
The mother then swam out to her daughter, and the pair were able to reach the beach to alert authorities.
Surf lifesavers were able to get out and retrieve the man from the surf at about 7pm (8am GMT).
New South Wales Ambulance paramedics performed CPR on the man, but were unable to save him.
READ MORE: Boy wakes from coma and hold’s dad’s hand after helicopter crash
This comes as a number of drownings have been reported in the area.
Surf Lifesaving New South Wales Director of Lifesaving Joel Wiseman told Sky News there had been a “significant increase” in rescues from the water this summer.
This is likely due to children missing swimming lessons due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
He told host Chris Kenny on Wednesday: “Sadly, we’re playing catch up with trying to increase drowning prevention and strategies across the nation at the moment.”