50-year-old man drowns offshore at Airlie Beach on New Year’s Day
A local councillor has confirmed the 50-year-old man who tragically drowned on New Year’s Day at the Queensland tourist hotspot of Airlie Beach was a visitor to the region.
Mackay
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Whitsunday Regional Council Councillor Jan Clifford has confirmed the man who drowned off Airlie Beach was not a local but had been on holidays in the seaside town.
Police have revealed the 50-year-old man had a significant medical history.
Senior Constable Stephen Smith said on Tuesday, January 2, that “the 50-year-old had a history of heart problems and had previously had heart surgery”.
“This has primarily been a QAS matter,” Senior Constable Smith said.
“The Queensland Police Service will help in putting together the coroner’s report, but that will be the extent of our involvement.”
Emergency crews rushed to Coral Sea Marina on Shingley Drive after reports of a potential drowning.
Paramedics at the scene tried to resuscitate the man, but to no avail, according to a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman.
“The effort for retrieval from water to go to shore took a long time,” the spokesman said.
A Queensland Police Service spokesman confirmed the man died at the scene.
This publication has not received confirmation of where the man drowned offshore.
A visitor to the Whitsundays from New South Wales, Peta, was confronted by a view no holidaymaker wants to see.
She was waiting for her boat cruise about 4.30pm at the boat ramp near Shingley Drive at the Coral Sea Marina when she saw four men next to an Ocean Rafting boat take out what “looked like a body bag” in a trolley.
“The first two men were police officers,” Peta said.
“There were two men in suits ... my father passed away not long ago and they looked like they could have been from a funeral home.
“And they put the body or whatever it was into a white van.”
It is understood the Ocean Rafting boat was chartered to help with the emergency response.
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