Four dead in Forrest Caves Beach, Phillip Island drowning tragedy
Family members were “wading” in waters off Phillip Island when tragedy struck, drowning all four people.
Bass Coast News
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Family members were “wading” in waters off Phillip Island when tragedy struck.
A woman, in her 20s, succumbed to her injuries after drowning off the coast of Phillip Island on Wednesday afternoon.
Off duty lifesavers tried desperately to save the four relatives who got into trouble off the unpatrolled Forrest Caves beach.
Three people, a 20-year-old women, a 23-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman died on the beach but another woman, also 20, was flown to hospital in a critical condition after being resuscitated on the beach, Ambulance Victoria area manager Paul James said.
Victoria Police on Thursday confirmed she died in The Alfred hospital on Thursday.
The relatives were wading in waters near the caves when they got into trouble but investigations are continuing into what exactly happened.
Three members of the family were from the nearby suburb of Clyde, while one was visiting from overseas.
Two off-duty lifesavers tried to come to the rescue of the group, before emergency services received a multitude of desperate calls.
Lifesavers from nearby Woolamai beaches rushed to the scene, along with others on jetskis and two choppers.
Victoria Police eastern region assistant commissioner Karen Nyholm said police were still notifying the next of kin but said the woman in her 20s who died on Thursday was visiting from overseas.
She said while investigations were continuing, the family was understood to be wading on the water side of the beach rather than being swept off rocks by large waves.
Life Saving Victoria operations general manager Liam Krige said the area was a “prime spot known for surfing”.
“There’s good surf, good waves,” he said.
“But that also means there’s a heightened risk of rips.”
Mr Krige praised the lifesavers who jumped into action, saying they were being offered support.
“Anyone who is willing to get into that situation is absolutely remarkable,” he said, noting he had “absolute confidence” in their rescuing abilities but manned beaches were the safest places to swim.
Lifesaving Victoria stations guards at 67 beaches across Victoria.
Mr Krige said they would “always look at more locations” but that decisions around which beaches would be patrolled ultimately fell to land owners and councils.
Life Saving Victoria director Kane Treloar said the swimmers were brought from the water unconscious, with the off duty lifesavers desperately performing CPR before they were pronounced dead at the scene.
“Upon arriving at the scene our lifeguards found off duty lifeguards had pulled three of those people from the water and one of our rescue boats had pulled that last person from the water,” he said.
Mr Treloar said Forrest Caves Beach was “not for swimming”, citing the area often had significant and dangerous rip tides and the nearest patrolled beaches were about 4km away.
“It’s been almost 20 years since we’ve seen a single event that’s resulted in such a high number of loss of life in Victorian waters,” he said, referring to an incident in Stingray Bay in the state’s south west, where five family members were caught by a wave and killed in 2005.
“Our thoughts do go out to all those people involved.”
The off duty lifesavers who assisted are understood to have been highly experienced and trained, out surfing at Forrest Caves Beach at the time of the incident.
It is understood they have been debriefed and will receive further counselling if needed following the tragedy
Witnesses described people crying and comforting each other as the off duty lifesavers battled to save the group.
Relatives and friends of the victims hugged and wept as emergency services wheeled away the bodies.
One man could be heard wailing “I told them not to go – I should have been there.”
Other shocked and distressed onlookers were screaming and sobbing.
Mr Treloar said those pulled from the water had planned to swim at Forrest Caves Beach that afternoon.
A group of “companions” connected to those in the water were on the beach at the time and had been the first to raise the alarm when they saw the swimmers get into trouble.
“My understanding is that they did have the intention of spending some time in the water there,” he said.
“But it’s certainly not a place that we’d recommend anyone be going swimming, the rip currents there are in such an exposed stretch of coastline [and] are quite significant.”
Cape Woolamai local Anthony Pesutto, 50, was heading for a surf at the Forrest Caves beach on Thursday morning.
Mr Pesutto said he surfed there regularly and described the Wednesday afternoon incident as devastating.
“This beach at Forrest Caves is on the south side so it’s quite exposed — and I do know that everytime the weather gets above 25C you can tell by the carpark it’s full of cars,” he said.
“This whole beach tends to get tourists taking photos but hidden in there are all the dangers.
“Even a day like this when the swell is pretty low and it’s coming in from the south — there’s definitely safe spots and really dangerous spots.”
Mr Pesutto urged anyone coming to the area to read the signs and to only swim at patrolled beaches.
“There’s Smith Beach and Cape Woolamai that are both patrolled,” he said.
Another Phillip Island local Leanne Sumpter was also saddened to hear what had happened.
“It’s such a tragedy - we run on this beach everyday and we can see the currents,” Ms Sumpter said.
“It’s not a beach for swimming.”
An Ambulance Victoria helicopter landed on the beach where dozens of police, paramedics, lifesavers and State Emergency Service had converged.
There were frantic efforts to save the quartet after they were dragged from the water about 3.30pm.
All were “unresponsive” after being brought to shore, a Victoria Police statement said.
“CPR was administered on all four but three were pronounced deceased at the scene,” the statement said.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
“The deceased have not been formally identified and their deaths are not being treated as suspicious,” the force statement said.
Forrest Caves is an exposed beach on the island’s south coast which is prone to rips.
It sits just west of Cape Woolamai and is not patrolled by lifesavers.
There is a patrolled area at Woolamai Beach, just a few kilometres from the scene of the tragedy.
Casey Beattie, 31, from Leopold, said she was lost for words when she found out about the deaths of three people.
Ms Beattie frequently visits Phillip Island and came down with her family to see the penguins at Forrest Caves.
She said the waves there were really rough and the beach was “super busy”.
“There were a few families spread out across,” Ms Beattie said.
She said her heart was broken after hearing of the drownings.
“It’s such a shock,” Ms Beattie said.
“We’re on holidays and you don’t expect something like that to happen.
“You are here to make memories and unfortunately these people have lost precious loved ones.”
Ms Beattie gave her deepest condolences to the friends and family.
“Families would just be so broken,” she said.
A witness told 7 News it was a “horrible” situation.
“The family was really upset,” Alex Tzatzimakis said.
“There seemed to be a group of 10 people who came here for a really nice day.
“Obviously it turned to tragedy.”
She said people were crying and comforting each other as beachgoers, who had brought the four people back to shore, performed CPR.
The tragedy occurred at Forrest Caves, a popular tourist destination on Phillip Island known for its sea caves.
The caves, formed by water erosion, can only be accessed during low tide.
“If the surf is up, the caves can quickly flood. Do not enter the caves and beware of playing in the rock pools,” one walking guide warned about the area.
“The surf along here is rough, and there are no lifeguards – so best to keep away from the water.”
A statement on the Phillip Island tourism website encourages visitors to complete an easy 2km walk around the Forrest Caves, but warns to only visit at low tide.
“Forrest Caves are sea caves formed by erosion of the cliffs over many years and can only be explored and accessed at low tide,” the tourism website says.
“Starting at the Forrest Caves car park, walk up the steps and turn left when you get to the beach.
“The walk passes by large sand dunes, home to thousands of short-tailed shearwaters from October to April.
“Please note that the caves can only be accessed at low tide. Be careful of changing tides and waves.”
High tide on Phillip Island was forecast to take place at 10.14am Wednesday, with waters receding until low tide at 5.06pm.
There was a moderate swell running but the rips may have been made more forceful by the fact that the tide was outgoing.
Phillip Island locals have taken to social media to voice fears around swimming near the caves.
“Forrest Caves is so highly promoted via tourism centre and Instagrammers for all visitors at low tide,” Kellie Smith McDonald posted.
“It’s extremely popular with internationals year round. I watch so many take risks on the rocks there at all tides, getting their photos, while I surf.
“They are isolated from easily accessible help, tidal change can be swift and the swells dangerous and there really needs to be more serious warnings.
“It’s the biggest reason a caravan park should not be located on this beach. Truly wish for all involved to be OK.”
It is the second triple fatality in the Bass Coast area in under two weeks.
On Friday January 12, three swimmers also died within hours.
A swimmer drowned at Surf Beach on Phillip Island about 3.30pm that day, followed by a second man who went missing at 3.45pm while diving in Welshpool, was located deceased 20kms offshore and retrieved by Water Police.
A third man, believed to be in his 20s, was swimming near Kilcunda when it was believed he drowned trying to retrieve sunglasses in the water.
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