The swimmer who vanished off the coast last night close to Wollongong is still being sought after.
After the swimmer vanished from Fairy Meadow Beach, Marine Rescue NSW started looking for him again at 8 a.m.
It is thought that the man was swimming when the beach was closed.
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According to Inspector Stuart Massey, NSW Police and the marine rescue volunteers were collaborating to find the swimmer.
“The first search area is between Flagstaff Point and Towradgi Point,” Massey stated.
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“Port Kembla 31, Shellharbour 30 and Water Police 23 are conducting a parallel line search in fair sea conditions,” said Inspector Massey.
Nestled along NSW’s Illawarra coast, Fairy Meadow is a beach and suburb. It is located just north of Wollongong.
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28-year-old Wollongong University student who went missing off Fairy Meadow Beach was found dead.
In the course of looking for a man who has been missing for five days after last being spotted in the surf at Fairy Meadow Beach in North Wollongong, police have discovered a body.
It is thought that the 28-year-old, an international student at the University of Wollongong, was caught in a rip on Sunday night while swimming at the beach with friends.
After three days of intense weather, a multi-agency search that covered 14 kilometers of the Illawarra coastline was called off on Wednesday.
A male’s body was found this morning one kilometer off the beach by a bystander in a boat. They informed the police, who then pulled the body out of the water.
According to Wollongong Police Acting Inspector Jayson Joerdens, “formal identification hasn’t been undertaken and we’re unsure of who the person is.”
The discovery will be included in the police investigation into the student’s disappearance, and formal identification is expected to take several days.
When the man was hauled out of the water on Sunday night, at least three of his friends were with him, according to emergency services that responded to calls from his friends. Several people were also observing from the shore.
At the time, Illawarra Surf Life Saving Duty Officer Anthony Turner stated, “The male in his 20s was seen in a rip. His friends went out to try and help him. Members of the public also watched the unfolding drama and unfortunately saw his hand in the air and they lost sight of him.”
Around 6:30 p.m., his friends sounded the alarm, and a large-scale search was initiated by NSW Life Saving personnel, a helicopter, marine police, and marine rescue.
Due to challenging circumstances, the search was lowered on Tuesday and put on hold on Wednesday; however, police units have since resumed routine patrols.
“Deeply sorry”
According to Acting Inspector Joerdens, police and the missing man’s family, who live abroad, have been in regular contact.
“Over the past week, police have been in contact with the family, the Chinese Consulate and [his] friends to keep them apprised of what searching we have done and we’ll continue to do that over the next few days,” said the officer.
The University of Wollongong acknowledged in a statement that the man was a student there.
A spokesman for the University of Wollongong stated, “We were extremely saddened to learn one of our students was missing after swimming at Fairy Meadow beach.”
According to the spokesperson, staff members and students are receiving support and counseling.
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