50-year-old drowns at the Murray Mouth near Goolwa

A fisherman has drowned at a popular beach near Goolwa, but a teenager he was trying to save managed to swim to safety.

A 50-year-old man has drowned trying to save the teenager he was fishing with, when the boy was swept off a sandbar at the Murray Mouth, locals say.

About 8.40am on Saturday, December 4 police and emergency services were called to Sugars Beach after reports of a man and a teenage boy who were fishing on a sandbar were missing in the water.

The16-year-old boy managed to swim to shore but sadly the 50-year-old man was located unconscious in the water by the Rescue Helicopter.

The man was brought to shore by Surf Life Saver but sadly could not be revived.

A Hindmarsh Island resident at Sugars Beach, who did not wish to be named, heard the rescue helicopter and grabbed her binoculars to see what was going on, late that morning.

“We saw the helicopter hovering about where the dredge is,” she said.

“Then it landed and a few people were running along the beach.

“And a boat went back towards Goolwa, at some speed.”

The scene at Sugars Beach on Saturday, where a man drowned trying to save the teenager he was fishing with. The man was brought to shore by Surf Life Saver but could not be revived. Picture: Gary Juleff

At the Coorong Cafe, on Sugars Ave, witnesses saw the rescue helicopter circling, searching the Murray Mouth below.

“The helicopter eventually landed and remained on the ground for a long time, our past the dredger,” one witness said.

“The boats that work with the dredge had been cruising in the channel, where they don’t normally, searching for something.

“We heard later that someone had been swept out to sea and the (man) had gone out to follow them. It’s very sad, people often get swept out here, we see it a couple of times a year.

“In the past we’d see the police and ambulance next.

“The fishermen are after mulloway at the moment. They fish in the water up to their waist wearing waders or wetsuits near the Mouth, off the sand dunes. There’s a very strong current.

“There’s a lot of frewshwater going out at the moment, so it’s deeper than usual, having the water running out is great for the environment but it’s more hazardous.”

The man also said tonight there’s a peak tide and then late morning when the tide turns there’s a period when the water is calm and it looks safe to swim, then suddenly the water rushes out and “that’s when you get all the fish”.