An off-duty police officer has drowned in a rip after saving the life of a teenage boy at an unpatrolled beach on the New South Wales (NSW) south coast.
Emergency services were called after the 45-year-old became caught in a rip at Bogola Beach, south of Narooma, at about 1.30 p.m. on New Year’s Day.
When lifesavers arrived at the scene, onlookers told them the man went into the ocean to rescue a 14-year-old boy, but after saving the teen, he disappeared under the water, Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce said.
A helicopter was sent from Moruya and spotted the man who was pulled from the rip by lifesavers, but paramedics were unable to revive him, and he died at the scene….