Sydney, Jan 1 (NationPress) Two female swimmers have tragically lost their lives in different incidents in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland.

On Wednesday, Queensland Police reported that a woman who had gone missing while drifting down a river to the northwest of Brisbane has been discovered deceased.

The 53-year-old female fell into swift waters around 2:30 PM local time and failed to resurface, prompting a search effort that included a helicopter, drone, and water rescue teams.

Her body was recovered on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities have indicated that the circumstances surrounding her death are being treated as non-suspicious.

Earlier that same day, another woman lost her life in a scuba diving accident, as reported by Xinhua news agency.

A representative from the Queensland Ambulance Service stated that five teams were dispatched to Wave Break Island, a well-known location for swimming, snorkeling, and diving, situated 60 km southeast of Brisbane, after the woman was found unresponsive in the ocean at approximately 10:10 AM.

Despite the efforts of ambulance crews, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Since the onset of summer on December 1, statistics from Royal Life Saving Australia reveal that over 30 individuals have drowned throughout Australia.

The drowning toll for December rose to 32 after a man drowned in the southern part of Canberra on Monday.

On that day, authorities in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) confirmed the passing of a 21-year-old man who went missing while swimming in a river in southern Canberra the previous evening.

Emergency services were alerted around 6 PM local time on Sunday when the man did not resurface, according to police remarks.

A search operation was initiated, and divers from the Australian Federal Police located his body in the water shortly before 8 PM.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a bystander attempted to rescue the 21-year-old but was unable to locate him in the water.

The drowning death toll for the month is consistent with that of the same period in 2023 but slightly exceeds the long-term average.

Earlier in December, Royal Life Saving Australia cautioned that the timeframe between Christmas Day and New Year's Day is the most perilous for drowning incidents in Australia.

They noted that 26 percent of all drowning fatalities during the summer of 2023-24 occurred in this period.