Finding into death of Forrest Caves Beach Accident
Deceased
Reema Sondhi, Jagjeet Singh Anand, Kirti Bedi, Suhani Anand
Demographics
unknown
Date of death
2024-01-24
Finding date
2024-12-09
Cause of death
Drowning (Reema Sondhi, Jagjeet Singh Anand, Kirti Bedi); Complications following out of hospital cardiac arrest due to drowning (Suhani Anand)
AI-generated summary
Four members of a family group from India drowned at Forrest Caves Beach, Phillip Island on 24-25 January 2024. All four deceased had limited or no swimming ability and no experience with Australian ocean conditions. They entered unpatrolled waters where a strong rip current was present. Despite warning signs at the beach entrance, the family did not notice or understand the hazards. The coroner emphasised that persons born overseas are at particular risk of drowning in Australian waters due to lack of familiarity with beach hazards, rip currents, and water safety education typically received in childhood by Australian residents. The finding highlights that signage alone is inadequate; multilingual education campaigns, targeted CALD community engagement, and promotion of water safety resources (BeachSafe app) are essential preventive measures.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Lack of swimming ability in all deceased
- Limited or no experience in ocean swimming
- Unfamiliarity with Australian beach hazards and rip currents
- Group entered water at location where primary rip current was present
- Lack of notice or understanding of warning signs despite signage present
- Group not dressed in swimming attire, indicating unplanned water entry
- Dark, calm-appearing water of rip was misinterpreted as safer swimming location
- Group unable to navigate back to shore due to knowledge and experience gaps
- Absence of Life Saving Victoria patrols at the beach
Coroner's recommendations
- Develop adequate signage including multilingual format at beaches
- Education and promotion of Surf Life Saving Australia's BeachSafe application via social and mainstream media
- Standardise beach safety signage across regions to meet international water safety standards
- Implement continuous monitoring and review of hazards at priority beach sites
- Enhance engagement with CALD communities through targeted water safety education and training
- Scope improvements to emergency markers and signage audits at high-risk beaches
- Develop cross-council framework for water safety in collaboration with Life Saving Victoria
- Undertake ongoing reporting to communicate risk mitigation activities and outcomes
Full text
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