The body of an 11-year-old boy who was swept out to sea in front of his family in Australia has been found, authorities said Wednesday.
The tragic find came three days after Laith Alaid was pulled into the ocean while he and his father and siblings were crossing a slim canal known as The Entrance Channel at about 5:15 p.m. Sunday. His father, 43, was crossing with Laith and his three younger brothers, aged 9, 7 and 3, when the current took the older boy, police said in a statement.
Laith’s father tried to rescue him but was unable to reach him. Emergency responders were summoned, and several agencies searched for the boy until it got too dark.
On Wednesday, a body was found believed to be that of Laith, New South Wales police said in a statement.
“A body, believed to be that of a boy missing at The Entrance, has been located today,” New South Wales police said in a follow-up statement. “While the body is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the missing boy.”
The body and other evidence had been sent to the coroner.
The Entrance Channel is on Australia’s eastern coast about 66 miles north of Sydney.
The family had moved to Australia from Iraq, People reported. They were visiting from Sydney, according to The Guardian, and had been fishing before trying to cross from the north side to the south side of the channel, which is known as a shortcut but not advised.
“Lots of people try and move across that channel,” Inspector David Piddington told reporters, according to The Guardian. “It is not advised though.”
“We have lost people in the past with the tide coming in, but it’s mostly when the tide’s going out that people have trouble and get washed out,” coast guard officer Glenn Clarke told The Guardian.
