Elderly Perth man drowns off Cable Beach in Broome after four men abandon sinking vessel

An elderly Perth man has tragically drowned off the Broome coast overnight after he and a group of friends were forced to abandon their sinking vessel. The group of four men, all believed to be in their 70s, began making radio calls to authorities at 12.45am and told water police they were “taking on water” at a mooring near Gantheaume Point. Three of the men were then believed to have jumped off soon after and swim to another nearby vessel, while the other started to swim towards shore, which was about 400m to 500m away at the time. Broome Police officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Dave Whitnell said the man had sunk and was later found dead, submerged near Cable Beach. Snr. Sgt Whitnell said police were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death after the incident. “It is a very tragic incident, there were certainly a lot of resources to manage it,” he said. Snr. Sgt Whitnell said the deceased had an address in Perth, but at least one person on board was believed to be a Kimberley resident. “The group had been sailing up and down the Kimberley region for the last couple of weeks,” he said. “The other three men are understandably shaken up, they just lost one of their friends. “They may have received minor injuries.” The men were taken to Broome Hospital as a precaution this morning. Snr. Sgt Whitnell said a tender was tied to the vessel but was dragged underwater along with the boat. Broome Volunteer Sea Rescue Group attended the call-out and had two of its emergency vessels on the water. A search helicopter was also deployed.