2.40pm: Police media confirmed a body has been found in the waters off Wollongong.
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It is yet to be confirmed, but it is believed to be the missing swimmers.
More details will be made available soon.
11:50am: A massive search continues off North Wollongong beach for a 21-year-old from Queanbeyan who vanished whilst swimming Wednesday evening.
His two siblings and friends watched on from the shore on Thursday morning, as Port Kembla Water Police continued to head up the search also involving surf life saving, the ambulance helicopter and Wollongong police.
Inspector Mark Walker from Wollongong Local Area Command said it’s believed the man was swimming alone at the unpatrolled beach, a few metres out from the surf club around 7:00pm.
“No evidence that we’ve found suggests he’s made it back to shore,” he said.
A number of witnesses police have spoken to said the swimmer, wearing board-shorts and what appeared to be a turban, had been in the water for around 10 minutes before getting into trouble and disappeared underwater.
Emergency crews responded with a three hour search, before resuming at first light Thursday.
It’s unknown why the man was in Wollongong, though police say it’s possible he was working temporarily in the area.
While hopes of finding the man alive are fading, Inspector Walker was optimistic by saying he could be clinging to a rock somewhere.
At this stage other relatives in India are still to be contacted.
8.25am: Polair is helping in the search for a swimmer who went missing off North Beach Wollongong on Wednesday night.
They are searching between Bellambi and Port Kembla.
7am: Emergency services have resumed the search for a swimmer who went missing in waters off North Wollongong Beach on Wednesday night.
Police said a man and a woman were on the southern end of the beach when they saw a man in the water who appeared to be in distress.
Wollongong police, an ambulance helicopter, jet skis, water police and marine rescue searched the beach and water until late on Wednesday night but could not find him.
The search resumed at 6am on Thursday morning.
Police believe the missing person is a 21-year-old Queanbeyan man of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean appearance. He was last seen wearing a pair of swimming shorts and a turban.
Wednesday night
by Kate McIlwain and Angela Thompson
9pm: A search is underway in waters off North Wollongong where a man disappeared earlier tonight.
According to Ambulance NSW Illawarra duty operations manager Inspector Norm Rees, a man in his mid 20s was seen entering the water at the southern end of North Wollongong beach at 7.05pm.
Three different groups saw the man getting into trouble after going for a swim. The raised the alarm and returned to the beach at 7.20pm but by that time he had disappeared. They described the man as wearing blue shorts and having long dark hair.
A NSW Ambulance rescue helicopter searched the waters with a spotlight for two hours as a large crowd of passers-by gathered on Cliff Road.
Wollongong Police duty officer Mick Green said so far all efforts to find the man had failed. ‘’We’ve had jet skis in the water, we’ve had the ambulance rescue helicopter, we’ve had foot patrols up and down the beach.’’
A coloured dye was released into the water and was taken southward by the tide, setting the course for the helicopter’s grid search.
A jet ski sent out as part of the search returned with weeds wrapped around its underside – an indication of the conditions under the water’s surface.
Water police were expected to take over the search shortly after 9pm, when the helicopter departed as it was running low on fuel.
But efforts were abandoned at 9.15pm.
A recovery operation is expected to get underway Thursday morning.
Paramedics, police, fire and marine rescue services played a role in the search. Police rescue also did a shore line search from Belmore Basin to Stuart Park,