Incredible twist as teens who vanished off Aussie beach found 30 kms away
Four teens have been found alive after going missing while standup paddle boarding off a beach in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
Police confirmed on Tuesday morning the two 18-year-old men and two women, aged 18 and 19, had been located by a local on their regular morning beach walk on Swan Island, roughly 30km from where they vanished, at around 9am.
They were taken to Geelong Hospital in stable conditions with no obvious injuries, Ambulance Victoria said.
The group, who had reportedly gathered to celebrate the end of their high school studies, were last seen using inflatable paddle boards in the water at Rosebud Beach.
A passerby spotted their belongings abandoned on the sand at around 8pm and called the police for help. Emergency services immediately launched a large search of the area, with the help of Police Air Wing, HEMS ambulance choppers, Water Police and local rescue boats.
“Deteriorating conditions” forced them to pause the operation at around 4am but it resumed on Tuesday morning, with footage from the scene showing rescue helicopters returning to the beach at dawn.
'A Christmas miracle'
The teens were swept by the tide, wind and current from Rosebud, straight across Port Phillip Bay to the Queenscliff area, Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Terence Rowlands said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Security and military personnel on Swan Island, which features a training base on one side and the Queenscliff Golf Club is on the other, ultimately alerted police to their discovery.
“You can see the smile on my face. [It’s] absolutely sensational that they've been found safe and well,” Supt Rowlands told reporters. “Luck has had a lot to do with it.”
The teenagers were cold but very thankful to be on dry land, police said. “All too often, these things usually end in tragedy,” Acting Inspector Ian Pregnell told Melbourne radio 3AW. “This is, one might say, a Christmas miracle.”
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Jack Shi, the father of one of the teens, told 9News he was incredibly relieved the teens were safe. It was reported earlier on Tuesday that Mr Shi had been at the beach all night helping search for his son.
“Our kids have [been] found and we're very, very happy about that. It's huge, huge relief. We were very desperate,” he said.
With AAP
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