A 21-year-old man has drowned in a river in Canberra, bringing the national drowning death toll for December to 32. The incident occurred on Sunday evening when the man went missing while swimming in a river in southern Canberra.
Emergency services were alerted at around 6 p.m. after the man failed to resurface. Despite efforts by a member of the public to rescue him, the man’s body was discovered by divers from the Australian Federal Police shortly before 8 p.m.
This death marks the latest in a series of drowning incidents across Australia. Royal Life Saving Australia has reported that December’s toll is on par with the same period in 2023, though it is slightly above the long-term average. The organization had earlier warned that the period between Christmas and New Year is particularly dangerous, with 26% of all drowning deaths during the summer of 2023-24 occurring in this timeframe.
In Queensland, two more drowning deaths were reported earlier on December 30, adding to the tragic toll. An 18-year-old man died after falling from a rope swing at Maudsland, while a 55-year-old man drowned after slipping from a waterfall in Behana Gorge. Both incidents are being treated as non-suspicious.
