A search is under way for an 18-year-old who was swept out to sea from a NSW beach while celebrating the end of school with mates.
The young man went missing while swimming at Little Bay Beach at Arakoon on the Mid-North Coast about 4.20pm on Sunday afternoon.
A search failed to find him on Sunday and resumed on Monday.
NSW Police Chief Inspector Mick Aldridge said the 18-year-old had been on a schoolies trip with friends to celebrate the end of HSC exams.
“Witnesses and bystanders tried to get to him, but he was dragged out to sea,” he told reporters on Monday.
“A member of the National Parks was also trying to get him out of the water.”
The area is not patrolled by lifesavers. The National Parks and Wildlife Service website says beaches in the Arakoon National Park “can have strong rip currents”.
It’s the latest tragedy on NSW beachers, following last week’s fatal shark attack at Crowdy Bay which left a Swiss tourist dead and her boyfriend severely injured.
On November 28, a 59-year-old man drowned at Racecourse Beach, near Crescent Head, while an 18-year-old man drowned after being swept out to sea at Soldiers Beach on the NSW Central Coast.
Riahne Louie Vasquez was standing on a sandbank in front of the surf club when it collapsed.
