Man drowns at Altona Beach hours before woman’s body pulled from Yarra River in Hawthorn

A man has drowned in Melbourne’s west just hours before a woman’s body was pulled from the Yarra River, adding to a summer of tragedy in Victorian waters.

The body of a man has been discovered in the water at Altona Beach. Picture: Mark Stewart

A Sunshine West man has drowned at a beach on Port Phillip Bay just hours before a woman’s body was pulled from the Yarra River.

It is believed a group of divers were in the water at Altona Beach about 9am on Saturday when the 61-year-old man became separated from the others.

He was located deceased in the water a short time later.

Just hours later, a woman’s body was pulled from the Yarra River in Hawthorn.

A passer-by made the grim discovery about 3.10pm before calling emergency services to Harrison Crescent.

The woman is yet to be formally identified and the exact circumstances surrounding her death are still being investigated.

Victoria Police will prepare reports for the coroner in both incidents.

It comes just days after a man’s body was also pulled from the Yarra River in Southbank on Tuesday.

Two bodies have been pulled from the Yarra River this week. Picture: Emily Godfrey

Emergency services were called to Southbank after a body was located in the water about 5.20am.

Water police attended the scene to retrieve the man’s body but are not treating the death as suspicious.

The tragedies follow a double drowning at Mallacoota’s main swimming beach on Wednesday, with a married couple, a 60-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman, found dead in the water.

Paramedics were called to reports of bodies floating off Bastion Point about 3.20pm.

Police said the couple, from Pascoe Vale South, were pulled from the water and died at the scene.

Federal member for Gippsland Darren Chester called on his constituents to be more careful in the wake of Wednesday’s tragedy.

“Tragic and traumatic news from Mallacoota today … my thoughts are with their loved ones and the people who rendered assistance,” Mr Chester said in a social media post.

“As the weather warms up, please take extra care around our beaches, lakes, rivers and dams.

“It’s been a terrible summer for drownings across Victoria.”

Bastion Point is popular for its sweeping views of the ocean but is known to be dangerous for swimming due to rips.

A couple in their 60s drowned at Bastion Point beach in Mallacoota. Picture: Supplied

The beach is only patrolled by lifeguards during summer school holidays, according to Visit Mallacoota, making it unsupervised as a heatwave sweeps across the state.

The double drowning adds to a fatal few months on Victorian beaches.

The state endured its highest number of drownings in nearly two decades over the Christmas period, including the deaths of two teenagers – one in Lorne on Christmas Day and another in Mordialloc on Boxing Day – sparking pleas from Life Saving Victoria (LSV) for extra caution around the water.

There have been 12 drowning deaths this summer in Victoria as of Friday, according to Royal Life Saving Australia.

Situated in East Gippsland, Mallacoota has long been a popular coastal holiday spot for Victorians.

However, the hundreds of kilometres of coastline makes the region difficult to patrol year-round.

A 2020 LSV report found the Gippsland region had been the state’s deadliest for drowning that decade.

According to that same report, rescue and first-aid equipment from the Mallacoota Surf Life Saving Club was also lost when bushfires ripped through the town over the 2019-20 summer.