Family ripped apart by drownings as search continues for third man feared dead at Moonee Beach
One of the two men who drowned on the mid-north coast was trying to save his three children who were stranded in a rip. Details are now emerging of the “outrageously brave” lifeguards at Moonee Beach.
One of the two men who drowned on the mid-north coast yesterday was trying to save his three children who were stranded in a rip - a third man is still missing, feared dead.
Ghouseuddin Mohammed, 45, got into trouble while attempting to save his two daughters, aged 13 and 17, and his son, aged 15 who were swept out to sea at Moonee Beach, near Coffs Harbour.
Mr Mohammed and another relative Syed Rahath, 35, jumped into heavy swells to reach the teenagers, but their bodies were later discovered floating in the water.
The boy and one of the girls “self rescued” and walked back onto the beach, according to lifeguards, one of whom plucked the third child from the water on a board and paddled her 700m back to the beach.
Lifeguards and police tried to revive Mr Mohammed and Mr Rahath on the beach but they died.
A third relative, 28-year-old student Junaidh Mohammed also ended up in the water and has not been seen since.
His cousin Shahbaz Mohammed said the family’s combined grief and suspense was “too much to bear”.
“We just came here together, we thought of having a good time together. Unfortunately we went to the beach,” Shahbaz said.
“My cousin, he is still missing, police have been searching for the last 12 hours. He is a students and his family is desperately waiting in India to know what is happening. They want to come here.”
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The family are desperate for emergency services to continue the search for Junaidh and refuse to give up hope he will be found.
Two of the children remain in a stable condition in Coffs Harbour Hospital today.
Details have emerged of the “outrageously brave” efforts of three lifeguards who saved one teenage girl and pulled two drowned tourists out of horrific surf conditions on the mid-north coast last night.
Coffs Coast lifeguard team leader Greg Hackfath got the call as he sat down at a his own birthday dinner at his mother’s house.
“There initially was two people in trouble. On the way there I find out it’s three people in trouble, and then when we got there, the coppers said it six people in trouble,” Hackfath told The Daily Telegraph.
He and colleagues Hugo Craigan and Alex Swadling frantically paddled into the solid swells and a howling north-easterly wind.
They paddled a stunning 700m out to sea, when Mr Craigan spotted the 17-year-old girl.
“Hugo said he saw a hand go up, he went like a rocket. She was just about stuffed, he got to her and got her back to shore.”
Hackfield then spotted one of the men floating facedown.
“So I just dragged him onto the board and started dragging him back,” he said.
Hackfield and Swadling kept searching for the remaining two stranded men as Craigan attempted CPR on the man ashore.
Coffs Coast police inspector Brendan Gorman praised the men, given the horrific conditions.
“There’s only one word, it’s absolutely brave,” Insp Gorman said.
“They’ve put themselves at risk. The information I have is one lifeguard went out nearly 700m to save one of these people.
“In those conditions at that time, I don’t know how you describe it other than it’s outrageously brave.”
The ordeal has shaken Hackfath, a long-time career lifeguard.
“This is my eight one, they all suck,” he said.
“I see the families ... I listen to them. I listened to them last night ... It’s horrible.”
He pleaded for anyone going near the water this summer, to grab a board of floatation device, swim between the flags and learn about beach conditions.
Surf Lifesaving NSW chief executive officer Steven Pearce, who just yesterday held a migrant water safety session at Tamarama Surf Club with over 100 attendees, said the incident was “absolutely devastating”.
“Our hearts and minds go out to them particularly this close to the festive period - it’s so close to Christmas that it only magnifies that grief and trauma that a drowning situation generates,” he said.
Mr Pearce said his organisation had been working tirelessly over the last 12 months “injecting ourselves” into migrant communities but resources were limited.
“If there were more resources we could do more outreach programs,” he said.
Since July 1 there have been 16 coastal drownings in NSW - on par with the figure at the same time last year.
Emergency Services Minister Troy Grant said it had been a “terrible start to the summer”.
“We’ll be doing all we can in our power and capacity to continue ram home that (water safety) message over the summer because we won’t be complacent for a second,” he said.
However, he said there was only so much the government and emergency services could do.
“Ultimately the responsibility lies with individuals,” he said.
The NSW government has implemented a raft of water safety measures including 11 new jet-skis, drone technology and $11 million to the Water Safety Fund Community Grants Program.
A water safety advertising campaign targeting migrant communities has also been translated into half a dozen different languages.
Minister for Multiculturalism Ray Williams said overseas coastal drownings were a “huge problem”.
“Over the last decade, 280 people who drowned from NSW were from a migrant background and it’s a very bad statistic,” he said.
“People from culturally diverse backgrounds are well and truly over represented in these drowning figures.”
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