Man critical after being swept off rocks into ocean in Western Australia

Man critical after being swept off rocks into ocean in Western Australia

FRIENDS have watched on in horror as a man plunged to his death after attempting to take a selfie at a popular Australian tourist site.

The international student, aged in his 20s, was “mucking around” with his mates when he fell 40 metres onto rocks at Western Australia’s notorious tourist hot spot, The Gap. He was then swept out to sea.

“We were new here, we don’t know about that, they had just gone taking pictures,” the man’s friend, Sahil Khenchi, told the ABC.

“We just can’t explain, he was one of our friends,” he said.

“We were studying in the same college. He was a very good man.”

The friends were on a road trip, driving 415km from Perth to Albany to see the spectacular site, a natural rock formation that is one of the most visited attractions of the state.

The man was with a group of five friends on Thursday afternoon when he veered off the designated viewing platform.

At around 2.30pm friends saw him fall over the edge, hitting a number of rocks along the way. He landed and hit a rock at the bottom of the cliff.

A witness called triple-0 and said the man looked like he was unconscious after the fall.

Moments later a wave swept through the base and took the man’s body out into the ocean.

“I had to stop his friends from jumping in after him and going over the edge,” she told PerthNow.

Authorities began their search for the body, equipped with an RAC rescue helicopter and local SES crews. The man was found floating in water at approximately 3.15pm. The body was retrieved at just before 4pm.

“A young male has gone into the water, and sadly lost their life. This is such a tragic event,” District Superindepedent for the Great Southern Dominic Wood said.

“It was a surprise to get a call such as this.

“All I know at this stage is that there is a small group, we think of about five young adults, they were down here within the vicinity of the platform behind me around the rocks.

“In any circumstances for someone to lose their life ... is just horrible. It’s horrible for the family, its horrible for the first responders, it’s horrible for the people who witnessed this event.

“It is a dangerous area but if you take precautions and stay between the bounds, then these things won’t happen.”

WA Police told news.com.au it could not give further comment on the matter while the City of Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington told news.com.au:

“It’s just tragic that another life has been lost on our coast and our thoughts go out to the young man’s family and friends.

“We have some incredibly breathtaking places along the Albany coastline but it’s also very dangerous. We can’t stress enough the importance of sticking to the pathways, please observe the signs and enjoy our coastline safely.”

The latest incident follows the rescue of two men swept off the rocks at the site last month.

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