Man missing in ocean, woman found dead at Sydney’s eastern beaches
Updated ,first published
Rescuers scaled back their search on Saturday morning for a Nepalese man who was swept out to sea at Coogee Beach on New Year’s Day, as colleagues praised the missing man as “the best guy”.
Helicopters, several boats, a drone and surf lifeguards assisted divers in nearby waters for two days to find Sushan Khadka, a 20-year-old student and bartender at Coogee Pavilion who arrived in Australia from Nepal about four years ago.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steven Pearce said on Friday the “significant show of force” at Coogee was focused on finding Khadka alive.
Investigators dropped a green paint sign on the south end of Coogee around 10am; Meanwhile, while many divers followed the currents, lifeguards criss-crossed the ocean on jet skis.
However, the search effort was scaled back to patrols along the coastline on Saturday morning.
A staff member at Coogee Pavilion, who wished to remain anonymous, said Khadka was “the nicest guy”.
“This is really hard to process because the search is still ongoing. It sucks. He was a very dedicated, high-level guy.”
Khadka was among three people caught in a strong current just after 6am on Thursday morning. The other two were rescued by off-duty lifeguards, while a police officer, fully clothed, rushed into the water to save the submerged man as nearby swimmers struggled to keep him afloat.
Rescuers were unable to get him to shore, triggering a massive search that continued until Thursday evening and was complicated by extreme surf conditions.
While some swimmers received shock treatment after returning to the sand, the rescue shocked hundreds of spectators who gathered on the shores of Coogee to welcome the new year.
The Nepalese consulate confirmed it was in contact with Khadka’s family following her disappearance and said it was monitoring the situation.
A 45-year-old woman drowned at a beach on NSW’s Mid North Coast on Thursday afternoon, while a 25-year-old woman was found dead after being pulled into the water near Maroubra Beach in the early hours of the New Year.
Melissa Austin, 45, was pulled from the water at Dunbogan Beach, south of Port Macquarie, shortly before 3pm on Thursday. Despite the intervention of medical teams and police, he could not be revived.
The body of the 25-year-old woman, believed to be a Chinese national, was found around 5 a.m. on Thursday, about an hour after she was struck by a wave and washed into the ocean, crashing into the Mahon rock pool.
Death in Maroubra follows one man died in Palm Beach After his small boat was overturned by a large wave and landed on nearby rocks shortly after noon.
A 14-year-old boy who was a passenger on the boat remains missing and the search for him continued Thursday afternoon. Police scaled back efforts to search for the teen Friday morning, and the only response in Palm Beach was marine and police sweep searches.
Another man on the boat was taken to hospital after he was found on a nearby rock platform with a serious injury to his left leg. He was rescued from the rocks by a rescue helicopter.
Authorities believe there were three people on the boat at the time of the accident, but they could not confirm whether there was any relationship between the trio.
Pearce said surf lifesavers monitored two serious incidents in the Wollongong area on Friday afternoon and urged people to be careful while surfing over the New Year period.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib thanked the organizations and volunteers who responded to a number of incidents.
“Many are already working long hours in very challenging and unpredictable conditions,” Dib said.
“I cannot stress enough that people should follow the advice of emergency services and stay out of the water while beaches are closed.”
Waves along the Sydney coastline were reaching more than three meters on Thursday, according to meteorologist Jiwon Park, who predicted the waves would ease on Friday.
“Sydney is currently reporting the highest waves… [but] These conditions can affect the entire coast,” Park said.
Pearce feared NSW was entering “terrible times” as he lamented “four separate drowning deaths” on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We were hoping to start the year [with] a fantastic new beginning; “The year 2025 has been extremely turbulent for all emergency services,” he said.
“I cannot stand here today and say happy new year because there are families whose lives have been irreparably damaged in the last 24 hours.”
Conditions continued to pose a threat to beachgoers Thursday; These included four people who got into trouble in the water at Narrawallee Bay on the state’s South Coast around noon.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said a woman in her 50s was taken to Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital in Nowra, while other patients were taken to the smaller Milton Hospital.
A man in his 40s, who jumped from the pier at Shoal Bay in the Hunter region at around 12.30pm, was taken to the Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious condition with back and spine injuries.
Surf lifeguards have carried out 85 rescues since Christmas Day; The increase “caught everyone off guard,” Pearce said.
Fire and Rescue NSW was carrying out a separate rescue operation after a man thought to be in his 80s fell from a cliff next to Parriwi Road in Mosman on Friday afternoon.
When emergency crews arrived at the scene around 5 p.m., the man was conscious and clinging on to a steep hill.
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Daniel Lo Surdo is a breaking news reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He previously ran The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s national news live blog.Connect via email.
Jack Gramenz is a breaking news reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
