Emergency services have found the bodies of two teenagers after a tragic incident at a popular swimming spot in Queensland.
Queensland Police said emergency crews launched an urgent search about 2.50pm on Sunday upon receiving reports a woman ‘fell off a waterfall’ but did not resurface at the Sunshine Coast’s Wappa Falls.
‘A male jumped into the water to assist but has also not resurfaced,’ a police spokesman said.
Queensland Police found the body of the 17-year-old girl about 3:30pm on Sunday while combing the area for the pair.
They later located that of a 17-year-old male about 7.25pm
Queensland Police acting Inspector John Mahoney told Nine News the girl had ‘got into difficulties.
‘A friend of the 17-year-old, a male person, has jumped in to try and assist,’ he said.
‘The body of the 17-year-old female has been located a short distance from Wappa Falls this afternoon.’
A boy and a girl, both 17, have been found dead following a tragic accident in Queensland’s Wappa Falls
Specialist police divers and Fire and Rescue’s swift water rescue team scoured the waterways for the pair on Sunday afternoon
Police divers recovered the body of the 17-year-old boy just hours after finding that of his friend
Queensland Fire crews, including a specialist swift water rescue team, were on scene with specialist police divers and continued searching for the boy into the evenening.
Police divers then found the missing boy unresponsive in the water and pronounced him deceased at the scene.
Police will prepare reports for the coroner for both the boy and the girl.
‘Wappa Falls remains closed at this time as investigations continue,’ the spokesman said.
Footage of the falls from Saturday showed the waterways raging following heavy rainfall toward the end of the week.
Locals were saddened by the tragedy, some said the falls can become treacherous after storms.
‘We grew up swimming there, never ever after heavy rain, people have drowned there since the town of Yandina was founded,’ one said in response to early reports of the missing pair.
Another said the falls contain hidden dangers for anyone fallen in or swimming.
‘Similar to rips at the beach, the falls can have dangerous currents that could easily drag and keep a person under,’ they added.
The falls have played host to a number of tragic drowings in previous years.
A man drowned in 2022 while attempting to rescue a child who had slipped into a waterfall in the area.
The falls are a popular destination for bathers in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Signs at Wappa Falls warn visitors of the waterway’s dangers including deep water, slippery rocks, strong currents and flooding.
More to come.
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