German tourist dies after drowning at Peregian Beach, Sunshine Coast
A veteran surf lifesaver, from the same spot where a tourist tragically drowned at the weekend, has revealed why even on calm days the Sunshine Coast’s best beaches can still be “super dangerous”.
Sunshine Coast
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A surf lifesaver familiar with the stretch of beach where a German tourist tragically died at the weekend has explained that while the water looked calm, the rips were “definitely bad”.
The longtime local, who did not wish to be named, said his team normally experienced two to three drownings a year between Maroochydore and Noosa.
“They’re beautiful beaches, but they’re super dangerous when they want to be,” he said
A Peregian Beach resident also rold of how a fellow surfer tried desperately to save the 68-year-old woman after she was dragged out to sea in a rip at the weekend.
Tristan Van-Vuure said the woman, who tragically died at the scene on Saturday, was taken a “fair way” by the rip before a surfer in his 50s noticed her waving.
He said the surfer paddled out to the woman, put her on his board, and returned her to the shore outside beach access point 49.
He said he spotted surf lifesavers running down the beach to the woman where the clubbies and the surfer tried performing CPR for about 20 minutes while she lay unconscious.
Her husband managed to swim ashore and was seen “crawling” on the beach.
“He was knackered,” he said.
The couple was dragged into a rip at Peregian Beach about 7.15am Saturday.
A Queensland Police spokeswoman confirmed the woman, who was pulled unconscious from the surf, had since died while her husband, also in his 60s, was not physically harmed.
The spokeswoman said local police had spoken with family members who lived on the Sunshine Coast.
It’s the second time Mr Van-Vuure has seen how dangerous currents at the beach can be.
He said the weekend tragedy followed a near-drowning at the same location recently.
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Earlier on Saturday, Surf Life Saving Queensland’s Sunshine Coast regional manager Aaron Purchase said lifesavers were alerted by police to reports of people in distress north of the North Peregian patrolled area about 7.30am.
He said the incident had occurred before lifesaving patrols started, but all available resources closest to the scene rushed there with lifesavers from Peregian and Sunshine beaches all attending.
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