A NSW man has drowned after being caught in a rip at a Queensland beach while a woman believed to be his wife was taken to hospital.
The 56-year-old man was pulled in an unresponsive state from the water at Happy Valley in Caloundra — on the Sunshine Coast — about 12.30pm on Friday.
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“They were caught in a rip. She’s made it to shore but he’s had a bit of a struggle,” he said.
“It was quite a nice day and conditions weren’t too bad but, in that area, there’s quite a few rips and the sand’s a bit unstable.”
Paramedics treated the man at the beach, but he could not be revived.
A woman, aged in her 50s, was also treated by paramedics before she was taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.
Queensland Police will prepare a report for the coroner, but said the drowning was non-suspicious.
