Huge search resumes at Coogee for popular local bartender
Helicopters, rescue boats, and police divers have descended on Coogee to try to find the man swept out to sea in rough surf on New Year’s Day.
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- National
- NSW
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A large number of rescue teams have converged on Coogee Beach to try to find the Nepalese national swept out to sea on New Year’s morning with colleagues praising the missing man as a “top guy”.
Two helicopters, several boats, a drone and surf lifesavers are assisting divers to scour nearby waters for Sushan Khadka, a student and bartender at the Coogee Pavilion in his 20s, who arrived in Australia about four years ago from Nepal.
The search sontinues for a swimmer missing after being swept out to sea at Coogee on New Year’s morning.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce said the “significant show of force” at Coogee was focused on finding Khadka alive, and that the large-scale operation would continue into Friday afternoon.
Investigators dropped green dye marker at the southern end of Coogee about 10am, as several divers tracked the currents while lifesavers on jet-skis crisscrossed the ocean.
A staff member at Coogee Pavilion, who asked not be named, said Khadka was a “top guy”.
“It’s really hard to process, with the search still going on. Awful. He was dedicated, a top guy.”
Khadka was among three people caught in a powerful rip after 6am on Thursday. The other two were rescued by off-duty lifesavers, while a police constable ran into the water fully clothed to try to save the submerged man as nearby swimmers attempted to keep him afloat.
A police officer and another rescuer dive into the ocean at Coogee Beach.Credit: Nine News
Rescuers were unable to bring him to shore, triggering a large search that continued into Thursday evening that was complicated by extreme surf conditions.
The rescue shocked hundreds of onlookers gathered by the Coogee foreshore to welcome the new year, as some swimmers were treated for shock after returning to the sand.
The Nepalese consulate has been contacted for comment.
It came as a 45-year-woman drowned on a NSW Mid North Coast beach on Thursday afternoon, while a 25-year-old woman was found dead after being pulled into the water near Maroubra Beach in the early hours of the new year.
