Tweed Heads: A 22-year-old Indian man died after drowning at Duranbah Beach, Tweed Heads on the New South Wales-Queensland border in Australia on Christmas day.
The man was identified as an Indian national Ravneet Singh Gill, a business student of Southern Cross University, Australia.
Queensland surf lifesavers took to the waters on their Jetskis for the mass rescue as Ravneet and seven others in trouble. The lifesavers were able to rescue all eight of them, but Ravneet was pulled out unconscious.
The paramedic’s team was unable to resuscitate the 22-year-old and was declared dead at the scene. Police was called to the scene at around 4:45 p.m. media reported.
The famous twin lifesavers, Shaun and Dean Harrington who are known for their Jackass-style stunts accused the fellow surfers of not stepping up in such situation that led to the unfortunate death of the man.
The twins took on to social media criticising fellow surfers ‘being mute spectators’ instead of helping the people in danger.
The seven others rescued were taken to the hospital for assessment and the beach was closed for the rest of the day, police said.
Friends of Ravneet returned to the beach on Tuesday, December 26 to cherish memories of their unfortunate friend and remembered Ravneet as ‘golden-hearted person’, NZ Herald reported.
The Gold Coast Sikh Council will be arranging a special kirtan program for Ravneet and has also started fundraising to assist his family.
Ravneet belonged to Gill village in Ludhiana district of Punjab, was the eldest of the two brothers and had gone to Australia on a student visa, SBS Punjabi reported.
“He was smart, witty, hard-working, vibrant and full of energy. The locals will miss him dearly.
“We are told he was the type of person who had a big heart, and he always offered help where he could,” Mr Manjit Boparai who is also making sincere efforts to send his body back to India told SBS Punjabi, Australia.
In two separate incidents, two more deaths of Indian have been reported just before the year ended.
A father has drowned at a Great Ocean Road Skenes Creek beach in Western Victoria while trying to rescue his two young children.
The 41-year-old Sydenham man died about 1.20pm today at Skenes Creek.
The family was swimming near Apollo Bay when the two young boys aged eight and 12 got into difficulties.
Another family member took to the water to try and help the father but he couldn’t be revived.
The two children were rescued however, and have been taken to Geelong Hospital.
In another separate incident, an Indian student Hemant Govekar went missing at Phillip Island.
His family still hopeful posted on his Facebook account that he remains a missing person.
“Police have just reported him as missing. We have not heard any more from them,” it read.
“Kindly do not post condolence messages as yet — it’s hard on the family.
“We will provide any official updates we receive. Thanks for your understanding.”
Mr Govekar was last seen in trouble by surfers at the beach at 5.30pm on Monday.
They tried to rescue him but he went under before they could drag him from the dangerous surf zone.
Later Emergency Services found human remains during search for Hemant.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the remains will undergo forensic testing to determine identity.
-Mohd Baqsh, Agencies