Richmond Local Area Command

Man drowns in northern NSW – Ballina

A brief will be prepared for the information of the Coroner after a man drowned at a beach on the North Coast of New South Wales yesterday.

About 11.20am (Saturday 26 December), a 54-year-old local man was swimming at Lighthouse Beach, Ballina. The man was knocked by a wave and was caught in a current and swept out to sea.

Ballina Jet Boast Rescue commenced a search for the man and located him at the mouth of the Richmond River, South of Lighthouse Beach.

Rescuers administered CPR on the man and he was taken to Ballina Hospital, where he died.