‘Hysterical’ father made desperate attempt to rescue son swept into sea

A frantic father desperately tried to save his son when he was washed off a notorious Central Coast beach, but one eyewitness said she watched the boy disappear in minutes.

A family fishing trip took a tragic turn when the 11-year-old was swept away from The Entrance channel on Sunday afternoon in front of his father and younger brothers, sparking a large-scale land, sea and air search.

The boy’s visibly upset father clutches onto one of his other children after unsuccessful attempts to rescue his eldest son.Credit: Seven News

The search was paused just before 5pm on Monday, but it will resume on Tuesday morning. So far, only his towel and a beach chair have been pulled from the water.

Sarah Bailey told Nine News that onlookers heard yelling and saw the 43-year-old father rushing through the water.

“We noticed a little boy in the waves with his arm up and then next minute, the boy was gone. We just couldn’t see him,” she said.

“The poor dad just was hysterical and threw himself on the ground, screaming out, and one of the older boys came to him and they both just collapsed to the ground and were crying.”

The boy had been crossing with his father and three younger brothers, aged nine, seven and three, when he was swept off from the northern side of the channel about 5.15pm on Sunday.

Low tide at the beach, which lifeguards consider to be one of the Central Coast’s black spots, was just before 5pm.

Authorities, including police divers, had been scouring as far south as Avoca when the search was resumed at The Entrance Surf Club at 8am on Monday.

Jet-skis patrolled the beach on Monday morning, while people believed to be relatives of the boy searched nearby rocks.

Police and Marine Rescue NSW search for an 11-year-old boy swept off The Entrance on the Central Coast of NSW. Credit: Marine Rescue NSW

Inspector David Piddington said the boy, whose first language is not English, and his family were visiting the coast from western Sydney and had been fishing before the tragedy. They had recently moved to Granville from Iraq.

Relatives of the boy have travelled from Sydney and are acting as translators for his family.

The tragedy has sparked debate about the need for foreign languages on warning signs at The Entrance.

Surf Life Saving Central Coast chief executive Michael Hyslop told Nine that “will be part of the investigation”.

Hyslop said strong currents and outgoing tides made the area dangerous for swimmers.

“It’s one of our black spots on the Central Coast,” he said.

“It’s a big no-swim zone for us. It’s a very dangerous spot.”

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