Six Drowning Deaths as Huge Waves Hit Australian Coast

 Large waves are seen on Tamarama Beach in Sydney on April 18, 2025, amid powerful swells hitting Australia's east coast. (AFP)
Large waves are seen on Tamarama Beach in Sydney on April 18, 2025, amid powerful swells hitting Australia's east coast. (AFP)
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Six Drowning Deaths as Huge Waves Hit Australian Coast

 Large waves are seen on Tamarama Beach in Sydney on April 18, 2025, amid powerful swells hitting Australia's east coast. (AFP)
Large waves are seen on Tamarama Beach in Sydney on April 18, 2025, amid powerful swells hitting Australia's east coast. (AFP)

A fisherman died after being swept off rocks near Sydney on Sunday, stretching the Easter weekend death toll of drownings to six as huge waves battered Australia's east coast.

Emergency services winched two people from the surf at Wattamolla Beach, but one of them couldn't be revived, New South Wales Police said in a statement.

The pair had been fishing when swept off rocks on the outskirts of southern Sydney.

The second person, a 14-year-old boy, was in a stable condition in hospital.

It continued a run of fatalities over the holiday weekend, with the search ongoing for two other people still missing in the surf since Friday -- one off Sydney and one off Melbourne.

Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) issued a warning on Thursday that strong swells would create hazardous surf conditions along the coasts of New South Wales and Victoria.

Three people drowned on Friday in New South Wales, while a woman died and a man went missing after they were swept into the sea near Melbourne.

On Saturday, when swells were as high as 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) in some places, a fisherman was swept to his death off rocks in southern New South Wales.

SLSA had released data before the weekend showing 630 people had died at beaches without an active lifesaving service over the last 10 years.

Chief executive Adam Weir advised patrolled beaches should be prioritized for safety.

"We know that Aussies and visitors to our country like to go off the beaten track to enjoy camping, fishing and other coastal activities," Weir said in a statement.

"But these coastal locations can present dangers, some that you can see and some that you can't, which is why we have some simple advice: Stop, Look, Stay Alive."



Hundreds of Firefighters Battling Wildfire in Southern France

An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
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Hundreds of Firefighters Battling Wildfire in Southern France

An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)

Nearly 1,000 firefighters and helicopters battled a wildfire about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of France's second-largest city Marseille on Friday, but officials said lower temperatures and increased humidity had improved the situation.

The 240-hectare (593 acres) wildfire flared up a week after a separate conflagration reached the northwestern outskirts of Marseille, forcing people to evacuate or into lockdown and temporarily shuttering the area's airport.

Pierre Bepoix, the colonel of rescue operations and deputy director for the area's firefighters, said 150 people had been evacuated, but firefighters had managed to save 150 homes and portions of the area's forests.

"It was a fire that swept through relatively dense vegetation ... which made our work particularly complicated," Bepoix told Reuters. "Obviously, priority was given to the preservation and protection of these homes and the lives that could be in these buildings."

Local officials said in a statement that 120 homes had been threatened by the fire, adding that it was not possible yet to identify any possible damage to them, and that two firefighters had been injured.

Meanwhile in Spain, a wildfire that broke out on Thursday evening in the central Toledo province and could be seen from downtown Madrid, ravaged 3,200 hectares of woodland.

Regional emergency services said early on Friday firefighters had secured the perimeter, though there were concerns over strong winds and high temperatures forecast throughout the day.