A desperate search is underway for a young woman who went missing while snorkelling with friends at a popular Melbourne beach.
The 20-year-old was swimming off the pier at Altona Beach, the city’s south-west, when she suddenly disappeared at about 11.15am on Saturday.
The snorkeller’s distraught family watched on in horror from nearby rocks while a large search operation was conducted.
Water police, surf life saving crews, divers and a police helicopter have been scouring the area in the hopes to locate the missing woman.
The family of a 20-year-old woman who went missing at Altona Beach on Saturday morning wait anxiously on the rocks
Water police, surf life saving crews, divers and a police helicopter have been scouring the area in the hopes to locate the missing woman
The search operation is expected to last well into the night.
One local fisherman said although the area was a popular swimming spot, the conditions could be dangerous.
‘There are rocks and it drops off quite quickly, if the wind changes it would only take seconds before you get into trouble,’ Tim Dynon told the Herald Sun.
The disappearance comes amid a horror year for drowning incidents in Victoria with 42 deaths since July.
The 20-year-old was swimming off the pier at Altona Beach, the city’s south-west, when she suddenly disappeared at about 11.15am on Saturday
Police are seen with the family members of the young woman at Altona Beach on Saturday afternoon as fears grow for the missing snorkeller
