RIYADH: A Saudi student is feared to have drowned in the seaside city of Wollongong in Australia on Thursday.
“Hasan Muhammad Al-Qahtani is missing after he went swimming in Wollongong beach on April 2,” said a statement issued by the Saudi Embassy in Canberra.
Al-Qahtani was studying for his master’s in pharmacology at Wollongong University in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, 82 km south of Sydney, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported yesterday.
“The intense efforts made by the embassy and the Australian authorities to find him were unsuccessful,” the statement said.
Saudi Ambassador Hassan Talat Nazir and Cultural Attaché Ali Al-Bishri visited the place of accident and met with the local police officials.
The police told them that they launched search operations with the help of municipal rescue teams comprising 47 people when they received the report of the accident. “The embassy received a call from a Saudi student informing it that Al-Qahtani disappeared when he went to sea for swimming on the early morning of Thursday and that police could not find him. The embassy dispatched presently an official to the place to inquire about the incident and help in investigations,” the statement added.
According to the statement, the youth and three of his friends of different nationalities visited a restaurant near the beach at night and left for the beach at about 12:30 a.m.
Braving the rough weather and violent sea they started swimming with Al-Qahtani in the lead. Soon a huge wave washed him away farther in to the sea while the other three returned safely to the beach. One of the young men called police who arrived at the location in 20 minutes and started a search with the help of boats and helicopters.
On hearing about the mishap, the father and close relatives of the missing youth arrived in Wollongong on Sunday hoping to find their dear one.
Al-Qahtani’s brother Sultan said his brother’s friends did not inform the police soon enough, which in turn caused the search operations to be delayed. He gave a slightly different version of the accident.
