A man has died and a 14-year-old boy is missing after a boat capsized on an Australian beach.
Emergency services winched a third person to safety and are now searching the Palm Beach area, Sydney for the teenager.
Responders swooped on the Australian neighbourhood following reports of a boat flipping at around 11.30am on Wednesday (12.30am GMT).
Lifeguards pulled a man from the water but he died at the scene shortly after. He is believed to have drowned and has yet to be formally identified.
Emergency services have not found the 14-year-old believed to have been a passenger on the boat.
Photos from the scene show the upside-down vessel – a small aluminium boat known as a ‘tinnie’ in Australia – washed up on jagged rocks.
Helicopter rescue workers can also be seen winching a man to safety.
Rod McGibbon, president of the NSW Surf Life Saving Northern Beaches, said: ‘Surf Life Saving have a number of assets out on the water, including jet skis.
‘Conditions are not great, there’s quite a large swell coming in and a bit of wind as well … which would have undoubtedly contributed to the incident with the boat.’
Gloomy skies and poor weather conditions have reduced visibility in the rough waters.
Acting Inspector Nicole Turner from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command said the incident was ‘tragic’ and that the search would continue this evening.
Rescue workers have faced a race against time with sundown at 8pm local time.
Palm Beach, an upscale Sydney suburb made famous by the Australian TV soap opera Home and Away, has been rocked by the ordeal.
Local community group posters shared their shock as blaring sirens sped through the beachside area.
McGibbon added: ‘We wouldn’t want to see this happen on any day, but particularly in that New Year and Christmas period.
‘People are enjoying time with their family through the New Year and Christmas period and you don’t want to see something like this happen.’
The incident comes just days after two men went missing in the sea on Christmas Day in Devon, UK.
Matthew Upham, 63, a local antique dealer from Devon, disappeared from Budleigh Salterton beach after a swim in which many in attendance got into difficulty in the water.
It’s feared that Matthew drowned after extensive searches by the coastguard and RNLI found no sign of him and another man, believed to be in his 40s.
Singer Kate Bush was among those paying tribute to Upham, who she described as ‘extraordinarily kind’ and ‘thoughtful’.
In September, British man Harrison Kontounas died after getting into trouble in the water while holidaying in Bali.
The 23-year-old had been swimming with two friends on Legian Beach, Denpasar, when a strong current pulled him beneath the surface.
His body was found two days later about one mile from where he was last seen.
Loved ones described Harrison as ‘gentle, kind, funny, and full of life’.
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