No sign of anyone after swimmers reported missing off a Gold Coast beach as Cyclone Alfred nears

Authorities are pleading with Gold Coasters to avoid the beach, as conditions become increasingly dangerous.

First responders searching for lost swimmers at Surfers Paradise.

Emergency services rushed to Surfers Paradise after receiving reports two swimmers had been swept out to sea.

Police and ambulance vehicles rushed to the scene near Northcliffe Surf Lifesaving Club after receiving a triple-0 call at 1:27pm.

A bystander reportedly witnessed two people going into the ocean before losing sight of them as she walked to higher ground.

Police conducted extensive searches but found “nothing to indicate someone was missing.”

Another bystander reportedly witnessed three swimmers leaving the scene, and police concluded they were the swimmers suspected to be lost.

Authorities are pleading with Gold Coasters to avoid the beaches, as conditions deteriorate on Alfred’s approach and record-breaking waves hammer the coastline.

Surfers Paradise local Tim Carre said he’d witnessed seven potential drownings by Thursday afternoon, including four young men almost swept into the raging sea.

“Earlier this morning around 10am, there were four guys swimming, actually swimming out from Enderley Street in Surfers Paradise,” Mr Carre said.

“I called them in there, they were like 50m out and they were messing around, they were playing around in the water and I said ‘come in quickly if you get swept out you’re going to die’.”

First responders searching for lost swimmers at Surfers Paradise.

Mr Carre said the group left the water just in time.

“As they were walking around the corner, a huge surge came in and had they not come out of the water when they did all four would have been swept out,” he said.

“There was a lady this morning with her headphones in drinking coffee walking along the beach and I said ‘get out of there’.

“Straight away, she got out and a surge came through. Afterwards she came up to me and thanked me and said ‘I’m so grateful that you were there, something terrible would have happened to me’.”

Originally published as No sign of anyone after swimmers reported missing off a Gold Coast beach as Cyclone Alfred nears