ACTING Assistant Commissioner Karen Nyholm has confirmed that there is now a fourth victim of the mass drowning incident at Forrest Caves on Phillip Island on Wednesday, evening, January 24.
She is the woman in her 20s which an Ambulance Victoria spokesman has confirmed was revived on the beach by lifesavers and ambulance paramedics and airlifted to the Alfred Hospital but later died as a result of the incident.
The four victims, all members of the one extended family group, were three people (two females and a male) in their 20s, all residents of the Clyde area of Melbourne’s south east and a 43-year-old female foreign national.
Police have declined to release further details of the family group while they make contact with next of kin.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Nyholm spoke to the assembled media at Forrest Caves on Thursday morning, acknowledging that the incident would have a profound impact on the family and also on emergency services personnel, volunteers and others who assisted in the response.
“We are here at Forrest Caves today which is a beach in the Newhaven area of Phillip Island.
"Yesterday afternoon, there was an extended family group down here at the beach area, and four of those family members have decided to take a wade in the water.
“The waters down here are known for their rips and treacherous conditions, and unfortunately those four people were swept up in what we believe to be a rip condition.
“Following that emergency services were called to the area to attend and respond and to try and assist those people.
“But unfortunately, three of them were pulled from the water unconscious. A fourth person was later pulled from the water as well and unfortunately I can confirm this morning that fourth person has now passed away.
“This tragedy has taken the lives of four people and it's fair to say that the impact will be profound on those families and on the police members, on the ambulance officers, on the lifesavers, on everybody and on all of the people who have attended or are connected to this tragedy.
“The police role in this from here will be to investigate on behalf of the coroner. At this stage we're investigating the death of four people, three of those people are in their 20s and we have a female I believe to be aged 43 years of age, who was an international guest holidaying here and her death will also be investigated on their behalf of by Victoria Police.”
Also in attendance at the media conference on Thursday morning were General Manger Lifesaving Victoria Liam Krige and Ambulance Victoria Area Manager Paul James.