SYDNEY, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Two people have died and a third has been hospitalized after a boat capsized at the mouth of a river on Australia's east coast on Thursday morning.
The police force in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said in a statement that emergency services were notified that a boat had capsized while crossing a coastal bar at the mouth of a river in Yamba, 530 km northeast of Sydney, shortly after 6 a.m. on Thursday.
A major search and rescue response was launched and a 52-year-old man was pulled from the water and taken to a local hospital.
A short time later, a woman was pulled from the water by a member of the public and a second man was located by a rescue helicopter and recovered by authorities.
Both were treated by ambulance paramedics, but died at the scene.
The NSW Police Force said that both are believed to be aged in their 50s.
It follows the drowning deaths of a husband and wife from Britain at a beach south of Sydney on Wednesday morning.
NSW Police Inspector Luke Geradts told reporters on Wednesday that members of the public pulled the man and woman, aged 66 and 64, from the water and commenced CPR, but they could not be revived. ■
