Finding into death of Ying Sun
Deceased
Ying Sun
Demographics
53y, female
Date of death
2024-09-30
Finding date
2025-06-18
Cause of death
Drowning
AI-generated summary
Ying Sun, 53, drowned at Cape Schanck after being swept off rocks by unexpected large waves while visiting Australia with her spouse and son. She was struck by two successive waves, knocked into the water, and despite rescue attempts by a bystander and emergency services, was pronounced dead at the scene. Post-mortem examination revealed drowning as the cause with no significant trauma, alcohol, or drug involvement. The coroner found this a tragic accident resulting from failure to exercise caution in a known dangerous area. Parks Victoria has installed warning signage, but the coroner recommends additional signage at key locations and multilingual QR codes linking to online safety information to better inform international visitors of hazards.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Unexpected large wave strike from behind
- Failure to exercise caution in known dangerous area with history of fatalities
- Difficulty getting up after initial wave impact
- Remote location with limited emergency access
- Variable natural conditions and unstable cliff edges
Coroner's recommendations
- Parks Victoria consider installation of additional signage at the end of the boardwalk towards Black Rock Beach reminding visitors of hazards present in the area and the need for caution around water and rocks
- Parks Victoria consider updating all hazard warning signage in the area with QR codes to link to information on the Parks Victoria website available in multiple languages to ensure international visitors have access to relevant information in their own languages
Full text
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